


Can't you see

by Ladycarathis



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: College AU, I'll add everyone else when they show up, M/M, On Hiatus, Slightly ooc maybe?, Slow Build, daichi is a dork, matchmaker Kuroo, scheming Kuroo, suga plays guitar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-03-06 22:31:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 51,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3150716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladycarathis/pseuds/Ladycarathis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Suga doesn't like Daichi. Daichi is head over heels for Suga. Kuroo tries -tries- to get them together. Also, Suga has three cats, and he swears they're going to be the end of him some day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

From: Cheshire Cat, 09:37

Subject: Rise and shine

Text: Rise and shine, Sugar! Don't forget you have courses later today! I'm going to pick you up at around 10:30!

 

Yawning, Sugawara Koushi squinted at his phone and the message he had just received, before he decided not to react to that text. Damn Kuroo. He couldn't have let him sleep 20 minutes longer, could he? Well, it was no use now. Now he was awake and there was no way he would be able to go back to sleep. He stretched, threw the blanket off and got up. Scratching his belly while he shuffled over to his drawer to search for fresh clothes, he was greeted by three loudly meowing cats.

“Yes, yes. Good morning to you, too, you troublesome lot.”, he bent down to pet each of them shortly, before he put on some clean underwear and a dark red sweatshirt with a v-neck. His jeans from yesterday would still do, he thought. -Well, until he noticed that one of the cats -probably Loki- had slept on it. He especially liked to leave his white fur all over Sugas darker pieces of clothing, the little devil.

“Would you look at that, Loki! What am I going to wear now? All my clothes are in the wash! And I can't go out just in sweatpants!”, he chided while he held up his now unwearable jeans, shooed the cats out of his room and started to dig around in the depths of his drawer. He hoped he would be able to find an old -very old- pair of jeans that he could wear for today.

“Ah, lucky me!”, he cheered to himself, when he actually found one. He pulled the piece of clothing out and looked at it. Maybe a little washed-out, but not too shabby, he decided. It would do for the day. He pulled it on and had a look at himself in the mirror, before he left his room.

Which was not something he usually did. But those jeans sure were a tight fit and he wanted to check if it wasn't too tight. After a long look, he decided he felt comfortable enough with what he saw and left his room to get on with the rest of his morning routine.

Feed the cats, try to comb his hair, brush his teeth, prepare his thermos-can of tea (he just didn't like most of the stuff they sold in the numerable coffee-shops around college) and eat a quick breakfast, which usually consisted of some fruits and a slice of bread (he didn't have time for a traditional breakfast most of the weekdays, and he wasn't that great a cook, anyway), while he waited for his best friend to pick him up. He had long since given up on telling Kuroo not to do that, but that guy wouldn't listen to him, so Suga had come to accept that he was being picked up by Kuroo every morning, when they had courses that started on the same time. -Which was basically every morning except on Thursdays. While Kuroo could be considerate and was a good friend most of the time, really, there were also times when he only did, what he wanted to do at that moment, and then no one was able to change his mind.

At 10:23am, the doorbell rang and Suga let Kuroo in.

“Ready to go?”, he wanted to know and Suga nodded.

“Guess so. I just need to find my scarf... Where did I put it yesterday?”, the silver haired boy mumbled to himself, before he scurried off to look for it.

“I'll help looking. -By the way, Suga, nice ass. Are those jeans new?”, Kuroo teased, one eyebrow raised in question.

Suga almost gave himself a whiplash, as fast as he turned his neck to throw a glare at his best friend.

“No, they aren't. They're probably still from my last year in High School. I just don't have any other clean ones right now, since a certain white fur ball decided to sleep on my last clean pair of jeans at some point this night.”, he scowled and then went back to looking for his grey scarf.

“And would you please _stop ogling_ me already?! You _do_ have a boyfriend, don't you?”

“Doesn't mean I can't appreciate a nice view when I see one. Besides, you better get used to it. I won't be the only one staring at your ass today.”, Kuroo smugly retorted and pulled Sugas scarf out from behind one of the pillows on his couch.

“There it is! Now let's get going, we don't want to be late, do we?”

Suga sighed and took the scarf from his friend, before they headed out for the day.

 

They separated at the entrance of the university. Kuroo had another medical ethics course he had to attend to, while Suga headed off to his own course in the psychology department. Sure, studying psychology wasn't exactly easy, but he liked it anyway. Always had, actually.

On the way to his course, he could feel the people staring after him, once he'd passed them, even more so than before, when he walked with Kuroo. Suga wasn't exactly a shy person, but he had been glad when his friend had drawn most of the attention of the passers-by to him, with his captivating, intriguing aura and his good looks it wasn't even that hard for him. Now that Suga was alone, there was no distraction for all those voyeurs. He sighed, pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time, only to let out a shocked “Ack!”, when he saw just how late it was. If he didn't run for it now, he'd be late. And as nice as Takeda-Sensei might have been, Suga really didn't want to be late, so he broke out into a sprint to his course and barely made it.

He was still catching his breath and trying to tame his dishevelled hair, when his Professor came in and started the lecture. Luckily, Takeda-Sensei didn't bring up anything new for today and Suga didn't need to listen too closely. His Professor just rehearsed the stuff from his last lecture and remembered his students that there would be a test at the end of the next week and that their essay was still due to next Monday. Suga groaned, along with the other students. Since, as nice as Take-Chan (that's how the students secretly called their Professor) was, sometimes Suga wondered if the guy actually liked torturing his students with those enormous workloads he assigned them. Now, don't get him wrong: Suga sure as hell wasn't a lazy student, and his grades were above average in all of his classes, but he still liked to have his free time, thank you very much.

Sometime during the lecture though, his phone buzzed.

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 11:47

Subject: Lunch

Text: I hope you won't mind one of the guys from my volleyball team joining us for lunch?

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 11:50

Subject: Lunch

Text: I don't see why that would be a problem. Who is it, anyway?

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 11:51

Subject: Lunch

Text: Sawamura Daichi.

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 11:52

Subject: Lunch

Text: No. Kuroo, no. Everyone but him! You know I can't stand that guy!

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 11:54

Subject: Lunch

Text: You don't even know him, Suga. Come on, it's just lunch!

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 11:56

Subject: Lunch

Text: I don't have to know him to know that I don't like him, Kuroo.

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 11:57

Subject: Lunch

Text: Oh, come on! Just this once? You don't have to talk to him, if you don't want to.

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 11:58

Subject: Lunch

Text: Fine. You owe me big time now, though.

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 12:01

Subject: Lunch

Text: Yay!

 

 

Suga groaned and pulled a hand through his still slightly messy hair, making it even messier now. What had he gotten himself into? Why couldn't he just have said no, like any other sane person would have done? Why couldn't Kuroo accept that there were people on this planet that Suga would rather not get acquainted with? And one of them was Sawamura Daichi. He really only had seen the guy a few times, when he went to see Kuroos volleyball matches and on campus, when he was went out of his way to meet with Kuroo, and he hadn't talked to him even once. He just knew there was something about that guy that just didn't sit right with him. And now he had to have to sit through lunch with him! Wasn't that just great?

Luckily, his course lastet for at least another hour, and then he'd have to walk to the cafeteria where he and Kuroo normally ate their lunch. -Which meant that he could take his time in getting there. Hopefully, by the time he got there, they'd be halfway through their meals already, and Suga wouldn't have to spend too much of his time at the same table as Sawamura-San.

When Takeda-Sensei expanded his lecture by over ten minutes, Suga didn't even care. Now he had an acceptable excuse to be late. Though he still walked at a snails pace to get to his destination. On his way, he sent another text to Kuroo.

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 13:17

Subject: Lunch

Text: I'll be there in a few. Take-Chan expanded his lecture by 15 minutes. You can start eating without me.

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 13:19

Subject: Lunch

Text: No, that's fine. We'll wait for you. See you soon!

 

 

Suga literally pouted, when he read that text. And there he was, thinking he might get to cut that dreaded lunch short! Damn that Kuroo. He really had no luck today, huh?

At least he had no trouble spotting Kuroos enormous bedhead between all those other students. He sighed, tightened his grip on his tray of food and made his way over to their desk. Kuroo and Sawamura-San really had waited for him, even though he had said they shouldn't. They greeted him with friendly, but slightly pitying smiles. Suga put down his tray and sat down on the chair opposite of Kuroo, while the guy pulled Sugas tray over to him and started snatching away all of the fish in his dish.

Sawamura-San followed that action with a curious, slightly confused look in his eyes.

“Uhm... I hope you don't mind me asking, but... uhm, you guys aren't dating, are you?”, he almost shyly questioned them, a light blush appearing on his face.

And while Suga frowned at that, Kuroo laughed merrily.

“Oh hell no! I do have a boyfriend. Suga and I just have made a food-agreement. I get to eat all of his meat and fish, and he gets the fruits and vegetables I don't like.”

“But why? You need to eat meat!”, Sawamura-San explained almost worriedly, which had Suga roll his eyes.

He didn't attempt an answer, though, since he was sure, Kuroo would gladly provide him with the right one. -Which he did.

“Suga's a vegetarian, so it's fine. This way, nothing gets wasted. Oh, by the way! I believe you two haven't met officially before, have you?”, he didn't wait for either of them to reply to that and continued talking, “Daichi, this is Sugawara Koushi-Kun, my best man. Suga, this is Sawamura Daichi-Kun, the captain of my volleyball team.”

Suga only nodded shortly in Sawamuras general direction, before he went on taking most of the fruits and vegetables from Kuroos tray. Sawamura-San on the other hand greeted Suga properly.

“It's nice to meet you, Sugawara-Kun.”

It earned him another frown from the silver haired one. The feeling definitely wasn't mutual, which is why he didn't reply and instead chose to start eating. He wanted to get over this already, and the sooner, the better. Sighing under his breath, he decided to zone out and not pay attention to the conversation Kuroo was trying to establish with his captain.

His best friend must have noticed Sugas unwillingness to take part in their conversation, which is why he didn't even try to rope him into it. Sawamura on the other hand glanced at Suga every so often -which didn't go unnoticed by the fair haired one and made him practically inhale his lunch. When he was done, not even ten minutes had passed since he had sat down.

“Well then, I gotta get going. See you later, Kuroo.”, Suga took his leave, not even acknowledging Sawamura anymore.

Kuroo frowned, when Suga took his tray and left them behind. He also noticed Sawamuras crestfallen look, when he watched Suga leave.

“He really doesn't like me, does he?”, Sawamura mumbled, when Suga was a safe distance away and wouldn't be able to hear them anymore.

Said boy meanwhile had left the cafeteria behind and was on the way to his next course -which wouldn't start before another hour had passed. And he had nothing to do until then!

“I guess I need to find something to kill my time with...”, he mumbled to himself.

He was lucky enough that the lecture hall was already open and he could occupy one of the seats in the back. Within minutes, he had taken up more than half of the table he sat at with his stuff. His bag, his thermos-can, the books he would need for the lecture, a notebook for his copies. He made himself comfortable and decided to engross himself in that book he found just recently at the local bookstore and hadn't had the chance to look at, yet. It was a rather thin one, with probably not more than two or three hundred pages in total, and he could likely manage to read it within the week -that was, if he hadn't had to do quite so much for his courses- but he knew better than that.

In between his coursework, commuting to and from university, taking care of his troublesome cats and the occasional night out with his friends, he would need three weeks, maybe even four, most likely. Well, that way he'd at least be able to enjoy it, right?

Suga sighed and turned the pages to the first chapter. Soon he was so deep into the story, he didn't even notice the lecture had started. Only when the guy who had taken the seat next to him nudged him with his elbow, he came back to reality. He smiled apologetically at the stranger and whispered his thanks to him, before he started paying attention to his professor.

After the course, he checked his phone for any new messages and actually dawdled a little, before he left the room. Though it was still only October and the weather forecast had promised a nice day, it was pouring down now. And Suga neither had an umbrella, nor a jacket, for that matter. He'd be completely soaked by the time he would be home and surely would have caught a cold on top of that. He sighed and looked sullenly at the looming grey clouds. Kuroos courses would last for another two hours today, so they normally didn't go home together, but now Suga was willing to wait for him. Just for the chance of the other actually having his umbrella with him. Though maybe he should send Kuroo a text and ask him first, before he actually waited for nothing in the end.

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 16:32

Subject: It's raining

Text: It's raining. You don't happen to have a spare umbrella you can lend to me?

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 16:34

Subject: It's raining

Text: I actually do have one. I'm in hall 216, break's in 15 minutes. See you then!

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 16:37

Subject: It's raining

Text: Great! I'm on my way, then!

 

 

Relieved, Suga smiled and thought about the best route to take to get to Kuroos lecture hall. It was at the other end of the campus, he believed, somewhere by the west-entrance. If he remembered correctly. He pocketed his phone and started walking. It would take him approximately ten minutes to get there, since he'd have to walk the long way around campus to avoid going out into the still pouring rain. He'd rather not catch a cold.

The halls he passed were vacated for the most part, but here and there he saw a few people standing together and chatting away, probably waiting for the downpour to pass. There was even someone catcalling him, but he ignored that with an annoyed roll of his eyes. He would never wear these jeans again! Ever! Luckily, his day was almost over, so he wouldn't have to deal with much more bullshit.

“Sugar-Chan! Over here!”, Kuroo called out to him, just as he entered the corridor where his best friends lecture hall supposedly was. Well, at least he got that one right.

“Gosh, Kuroo. Stop making such a ruckus. And _please stop_ calling me that!”

“But it's true! You are as sweet as sugar, and your name is practically the same, anyway.”, Kuroo all but whined.

“Kuroo, I'm going to double the amount you owe me for today, if you don't stop. Now.”

Suga almost glared at him. And Sugas glares were just as scary as Daichis, Kuroo thought.

“Fine, fine, I'll stop. If it makes you any happier: I know of at least one guy, whose heart you broke today with those jeans.”, he winked at Suga.

“Is that so?”, the silver haired one frowned, thinking back to that faceless person that had catcalled him a few minutes earlier, then he smirked.

“Well, wearing these jeans wasn't in vain, then, I guess. I don't even want to know how many people realized today I was out of their league.”

He was joking, though, and Kuroo knew that. He laughed, and Suga let himself be drawn into it and chuckled, as well.

“Sure, sure. Don't you want to know whom I'm talking about, though?”, he pressed on, when Suga showed no intention of asking that question.

“No, not really. You know I don't care about that stuff. Will you give me your umbrella now?”, Suga sighed.

He really didn't want to know. It was enough for him to know that it was _yet another_ guy, apparently. Over the last few years he had lost count on just how many guys and girls had been crushing on him, it simply were too many. Some of them later said that he had planned them to fall in love with him -outright accused him- so he could become even more popular. -Not that he hadn't been, already. With his ash blonde hair and his angelic behaviour he sure stood out amongst the other students. But to say that he had plotted for them to crush on him had hurt him. -And changed him, in a way, when he found out. He stopped always being nice to everyone, spoke his mind more often and he even opposed his teachers (just once or twice, but it did the thing) and it worked. Slowly but steadily, he lost his reputation of the angelic, nice guy and was just another student, that was -at best- admired for his good looks or his grades. Some people still crushed on him, but he didn't care about that anymore and turned each and every one of them down, be it boy or girl. -In favour of his grades, he would always say, but in truth, it was because he didn't know if he liked them. Could come to like them. He was nice enough to everyone, when it came down to it, but there never was anyone special. He never once thought he might come to actually fall for this person or that one. Neither boys nor girls would catch his attention, and so he remained single through all of his school years, and now, in university, far away from his small home town and his friends, he was still the same.

“Ah, sure. Here you go. I'll come pick it up later, okay?”, Kuroo pulled him out of his thoughts and handed him the umbrella.

“Thanks, Kuroo! Have fun at your lecture!”, Suga took the umbrella and turned to leave.

“I'll see you later, then? At around eight?”

“Yep, as always. Oh, I'm also going to bring Kenma and Shimizu-Chan along, if that's alright?”

“Yeah, sure. Later!”

At home, Suga went to tidy up the place -not that he needed to do much, though. He just vacuumed and cleaned the kitchen, before he went to have a quick shower and did his laundry so it would be done by the time his friends showed up. While he was doing that, his mind was free to wander off, and it did. He wondered how the book he started reading would continue, what he'd do tomorrow and how he'd spend the rest of his free time until his doorbell rang.

Ultimately, he found himself lounging on his couch, two of his three cats in his lap and demanding their daily dose of affection from him. He smiled, thinking that it was the best idea Kuroo came up with so far. One day, Suga had been complaining how lonely it felt to come home to an empty flat, and the next thing he knew, Kuroo was standing in his door a few days later, with a basket that contained three adorable little kittens. Loki, Freyja and Sigyn he had named them after some nordic deities. But before he did that, he had scolded Kuroo for doing something so reckless as just picking up three kittens from a shelter, without knowing if Suga could (or would) keep them. Well, he _had_ kept them, obviously, and he loved all three of them, even if they were more than a handful sometimes. He almost fell asleep, lulled in by the soft purring of Freyja and Sigyn, but the doorbell rang just in time and had him jolt back to be perceptive and alert.

The rest of his night was spent in the company of his friends. They made plans for Halloween, which party they would attend, what costumes they'd wear. They discussed their fellow students crushes or paired them up with people they thought fit them perfectly. At some point, the centre of their conversation shifted from some unknown guy Shimizu had come up with, to Suga.

“So, Suga... You seriously don't have your eyes on anyone? There must be someone you like! Or at least someone you think is attractive -aside from me, of course!”, Kuroo taunted him.

But Suga was used to that speech by now, so he didn't bother stressing over it and simply answered with a shrug.

“Nope. Not anybody.”

He said it in such a matter-of-fact-way, that Kuroo didn't even pull a face at that. Kenma merely raised an eyebrow, before he went back to concentrate on the game he was playing on his phone, but Shimizu tilted her head, a questioning look in her eyes. She didn't believe him.

“It's true though. There's no one I feel especially attracted to.”, Suga repeated.

“But you did have a crush on someone before, right?”, the dark haired girl wanted to know.

“I don't think so?”, came the careful reply.

Now that he thought about it... Did that count when you had to think about a person again and again, but not because he or she was particularly good looking or had a nice character, and you just couldn't quite put your finger on what intrigued you about them? Suga wasn't sure about that, so he stayed quiet. Besides, if he said that, Kuroo and Shimizu both would pester him to spill a name already. And they sure as hell would try to set him up with that person.

“Boooring! Suga, you seriously need to get laid!”, Kuroo exclaimed, which made the blond actually blush and flustered.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recently fell deep into Daisuga hell, and this idea just wouldn't leave me alone, so I had to write it down. I know Suga is slightly ooc, but I hope I'll get the hang of his character eventually :D  
> I have no idea how college/university live works, so please forgive me, if I get something wrong ^^"
> 
> Next chapter will be concentrating on Daichi, though.
> 
> Also, I hope you enjoyed reading and will be back for more! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Daichi started his day early, to go and have a jog outside. He had planned this run since the weather forecast had promised considerably warm temperatures and a lot of sunshine for a late October day. The indoor tracks at his colleges' gym didn't appeal to him most of the time. Sun and fresh air -that was, what he needed and the reason he was up at six in the morning, wearing his universities' sweatpants and a loosely fitting black shirt, while he sipped at his first coffee of the day.

He would need it to get through with the day, and even more so when he really went along with that ridiculous idea of Kuroos'. But he tried not to think of it too much and tried to ignore those looming feelings of dread and despair that ate away at his guts that he felt since that moment his black haired friend had learned that Daichi crushed on Kuroos best friend.

“Hmm, so you like Sugar-Chan?”, he had asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Daichi had been tempted to deny it, to play it off and tell Kuroo he must have heard it wrong when he overheard Daichi talking to Asahi-San about his crush on Sugawara-San, but it was no use. His secret was out, though at that time, he didn't even know 'Sugar-Chans' full name. Kuroo thankfully supplied him with one, though.

Sugawara Koushi.

The silver haired man, who came to watch most of their volleyball-teams matches (he always stood in the front row and cheered enthusiastically), apparently was Kuroos best friend since their freshman year in High School. They seemed to have played volleyball together at that time, and Daichi did remember him coming to the tryouts for their universities' team, but Sugawara-Kun hadn't come back after that. Back then, Daichi didn't think anything about that and even forgot that encounter entirely, until Kuroo started providing him with tidbits of information about his best friend.

At that time, in their first year at college, Sugawara-Kun had fared quite well throughout their tryouts, and when Daichi finally started to ask Kuroo about his best friend out of his own accord, the first question he had, was, why the blonde had stopped playing volleyball.

“Actually, I don't really know. He never answered, when I asked him about it.”, Kuroo had frowned, while he thought about it and tried to come up with an explanation.

He never found one, though.

Aside from that, Daichi learned that Sugawara-Kun seemed to be a pretty nice guy, sometimes a little mischievous (though by far not as bad as Kuroo), sometimes a little too caring and way too focused on his studies. He learned that Kuroo hat presented his best friend with three kittens in their first year in college, when he complained about how he felt lonely coming back home to an empty flat. There were many more things than that, and Daichi actually rehearsed them every few days, in order not to forget something important.

For now, he was done, though. His coffee was empty, and if he didn't get going now, he would have to share is usual track with other people. So he slipped his headphones on, plugged them into his phone and started his jogging-play list. It contained most of his favourite songs from Nightwish, but there were some other songs mixed in between, too. He didn't know why, but when he first stumbled over that band on the internet -completely by chance- he was done for, the second he heard the first few tacts of 'The Kinslayer,'. After that, he quickly found that he had a thing for symphonic metal in general and soon became invested. He didn't dress all in black and leather and studs, though. Sure, he liked the general apparel, but with his muscular build it was hard not to get mistaken for one of those thugs that hung around his school, and he didn't want to get in trouble for nothing. But, be that, as it may!

He left the flat he shared with Asahi and Bokuto and did his stretches, before he set out for his run.

When he came back to his flat an hour and a half later, Asahi was up and greeted him with the promise to have breakfast ready by the time Daichi was done with his shower. After almost two years of living together, the gentle giant knew Daichis habit to go out and run first thing in the morning (before he even had breakfast) by heart and he had it taken up on himself to provide his friend with a well-balanced breakfast when he came back. -Otherwise Daichi wouldn't eat anything until lunch and function solely on the basis of coffee and energy drinks. And that certainly was not healthy for an athlete. Daichi thanked him and stripped his sweat-drenched shirt off, while still in the hallway of their flat. With a quick flick of his wrist, he tossed it into his room and went to take his shower.

“Are you going to do what Kuroo suggested the other day?”, Asahi wanted to know, once the two of them sat at their tiny table in the kitchen and had their breakfast.

“I don't know. I'm still not sure it's a good idea.”, Daichi replied after he gulped down half of his second coffee for the day.

“Kuroo said Sugawara-Kun doesn't like me. It's a little disheartening, to be honest. He doesn't even know me, so how does he know he doesn't like me, Asahi?”

“Uhm, well...”, the guy stuttered, while he tried to come up with an answer that would satisfy his friend.

“I'm not sure. But it's just like that, I guess. There are always some people you can't sympathize with, even if you haven't talked to them before. Remember when we were still in High School and played that match against Shiratorizawa? You had just one look at Ujishima-San and said you didn't like him. Isn't that just the same thing Sugawara-San did?”

It was a rather long speech for Asahi, and Daichi didn't exactly expect such an elaborate answer from him, but maybe he should have.

“I guess you're right. There's no helping it, then. Though Ujishima-Kun and I eventually established something like a mutual respect for each other over time.”, he mumbled thoughtfully.

“That's true. Maybe Sugawara-San will change his opinion on you when he gets to know you, too?”, Asahi suggested and Daichi nodded absentmindedly.

He hoped his friends were right, since not only Asahi had said so, now, but Kuroo had too, before.

 

 

From: Trashcat, 08:47

Subject: Today

Text: Yo, captain! Ready for today? We're still doing it, right? You're not chickening out now, are you?

 

 

To: Trashcat, 08:50

Subject: Today

Text: Don't get cocky, Kuroo! I'm not chickening out now. I said I'll do it. Though I doubt it would do any good.

 

 

From: Trashcat, 08:52

Subject: Today

Text: We'll see about that. I have a feeling it will go well enough. Besides, he won't rip your head off, crowboy.

 

 

To: Trashcat, 08:53

Subject: Today

Text: I don't trust your feelings, cat. And how can you be so sure about that?! He doesn't like me. At all. You said so yourself!

 

 

From: Trashcat, 08:58

Subject: Today

Text: You hurt me, Daichi! When have I ever let you down? Never, that's it! I may have said that at one point, that's true. But! That only means it can't get any worse, right? You'll see, soon enough Suga'll be head over heels for you! Just come sit with us for lunch from now on. He'll get used to you, and before he can even notice it, his animosity towards you will be gone.

 

 

To: Trashcat, 09:01

Subject: Today

Text: When you say it like that, it sounds easy enough. Though I doubt he'll fall for me that easily. Ugh! Kurooooo!

 

 

From: Trashcat, 09:03

Subject: Today

Text: Daichi, it'll be fine. Don't stress yourself. I know what I'm doing. And I know Suga. He's actually pretty predictable.

 

 

To: Trashcat, 09:04

Subject: Today

Text: Easy for you to say! You're not the guy with a huge crush on him! -What do you mean, he's predictable?

 

 

From: Trashcat, 09:06

Subject: Today

Text: That's true! Though everyone crushed on Suga at some point, I guess. Well, just what I said. When I tell him you'll be joining us for lunch, he'll grumble and rant and bitch about it, but he'll come anyway, because that's just the way he is. He might try to cut lunch short or ignore us, though.

 

 

To: Trashcat, 09:07

Subject: Today

Text: That's not very encouraging, you know? Are you sure he wouldn't ditch us entirely?

 

 

From: Trashcat, 09:10

Subject: Today

Text: Suga would never do that to me. Now, don't you have a lecture to attend to in 20 minutes?

 

 

To: Trashcat, 09:10

Subject: Today

Text: Shit!!!

 

 

Needless to say, Daichi came in ten minutes too late for his lecture. His professor frowned at him, when he noticed Daichi sneaking in. He thought he was off the hook with that, but he was wrong. Two hours later, Ukai-Sensei called him over, when the lecture ended.

“Sawamura-Kun, I won't give you any extra tasks to work on for today, since it's the first time for you to be late. Consider this a warning -next time this happens I won't be so generous. Now, off you go.”

Daichi, who had felt his heart drop the moment Ukai-Sensei had called out to him, visibly relaxed and nodded, understanding.

“Of course, Sensei. Thank you very much. It won't happen again, I promise.”

He bowed to his professor before he left the lecture hall.

It was 12:35 now, and he had nothing to do until lunchtime, when he was going to meet with Kuroo -and Sugawara-Kun! Gosh, he was already giddy like a child on its birthday, right before it gets to open the presents. This was no good. If he was this nervous already, he would be a total wreck by the time, he actually _met_ his crush! He had to find something to distract himself from his thoughts. But, when he came up empty handed after a while of thinking about it, he gave up. Instead, he focused on finding a quiet corner on the campus, where he could coop himself up in until it was time for lunch. He didn't have much luck, though, so he opted to just go to his favourite coffee-shop instead. If he was right, Noya was working today, and Daichi was sure the barista would do an excellent job at taking his mind off of things.

The coffee-shop wasn't that far away,just down the street, actually, and Daichi made his way there in less than five minutes.

“Yo! Daichi! Haven't seen your face in a while! How's it been?”, he was greeted by a cheerful voice the moment he entered the shop.

“Hello, Noya-San. I've been busy with my studies, I guess. Care to make me a coffee? I really need one right now.”

“On it! But you _do_ know it's no use to overwork yourself and live off of caffeine all the time, right?”

The short man with brown, spiky hair and a blond streak in the middle of his fringe started to prepare his coffee, while Daichi took a seat at the counter. It was still time until all the other students would rush in in their lunch break to refill their caffeine-reserves, so he could have a little chat with his friend without distracting him from work.

“Thanks, Noya. Sure. It's just... Ugh. You haven't talked to Kuroo recently, have you?”

“Huh? No, I haven't. He hasn't come in lately, just like you. Wait, don't tell me, you two-?!”

“No! Damn it, Noya! I... W-we would never! That's just ridiculous! Where did you even _get_ that idea?!”, Daichi flustered, his face a bright shade of red.

“Relax. I was just joking. I know you two wouldn't do that.”, the barista grinned and handed Daichi his coffee.

“Or would you?”, he winked at his still slightly flushed friend.

“Noya! Honestly!”, Daichi grumbled and blew on his coffee, to cool it off a little.

“Yeah, yeah. Why did you ask, though? Do you need something from him? Didn't he show up to practice lately, or what's up?”

“No, it's not that. I was just... wondering, I guess?”

“That's not like you. Something's up, isn't it? Daichi?”, Nishinoya implored and Daichi sighed.

He didn't want to rope Noya into this mess that was his non-existent love-live, but he knew the other probably wouldn't shut up otherwise.

“Well, yeah...”, he sighed and took a sip from his coffee.

The beverage was still almost scalding hot, but he paid no mind to that and instead savored its taste. Noyas coffee was the best.

“There... there's this guy I've been crushing on for a while now, and Kuroo is tired of me just watching him from afar. He knows him -apparently they are friends since High School- and now he wants me to meet him. He invited me to have lunch with him and his friend today.”

Daichi left Suga's name out on purpose, since he knew Noya would tell these news to practically everyone of his friends. Not that he cared -most of them knew of his sexual orientation and didn't really care about it anyway- so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise for them to hear of Daichis crush. But what he couldn't let happen, was Sugawara finding out about his crush on him. He'd be so done for, if that happened. Just the thought alone had him slump in his seat.

“Eh? Really?! Tell me about him! Who is he? Maybe I know him and can help get you two together, too! Daichiii, spill!”, Noya urged him, but he shook his head no.

“I won't tell you. You're just going to blab it to Tanaka. And then everyone will know.”, he frowned, while Noya looked offended.

“I'm not _that_ bad at keeping secrets, you know? At least tell me, what this crush of yours is like, then?”

Daichi sighed and fiddled with his cup of coffee, while he thought about what he could tell Noya without him being able to guess Sugas identity.

“Well... he is pretty tall, I guess, about my height. He's kind of the lean type, just like you, and he has blonde hair and seems to be pretty nice?”

There. That should be enough. Noya leaned on the counter, giving Daichi a scrutinizing look.

“But that could be _anyone_ , Daichi! A little more detail, _please_!”, he finally demanded.

“No. That's all I'm telling you.”, Daichi promptly retorted.

“Fine then! Next time, you won't be getting any coffee!”, the barista pouted and then went to greet a customer that just came in.

When he was done and the girl had left again, a coffee-to-go in her hand, he came back do Daichi.

“So, you said you were going to have lunch with him later? Does the lucky one know that, yet? Or is Kuroo going to spring that on him out of nowhere?”

“I think he told him that I'll be joining them?”, he offered.

“It won't be just the two of you then? Hmpf. What does Kuroo think he's doing? You two need to have some quality-time. Alone!”

“No! Noya! That's fine! I don't think I'd be able to say anything if I were to be alone with him right now. I'm actually glad Kuroo will be around.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Yeah. I'm way too nervous.”, Daichi admitted, blushing yet again, but he tried to hide his reddening face by gulping down the rest of his coffee.

“Aw! Don't be! You're a cool guy! Kuroos friend would be an idiot if he wouldn't notice that! You'll do fine, Daichi!”

“Maybe. I should get going now, though. Don't wanna be late.”

“Sure! Good luck, lover-boy!”, Noya grinned and took the money for Daichis coffee from him.

Daichi glared at him, before he left the shop.

 

 

To: Trashcat, 12:56

Subject: Lunch

Text: So? What's the status? Is he coming?

 

 

From: Trashcat, 13:00

Subject: Lunch

Text: Yep, it went as I said it would. He wasn't too happy about it, but he's coming.

 

 

To: Trashcat, 13:02

Subject: Lunch

Text: Okay.

 

 

If he hadn't been nervous before -now he definitely was. He got sweaty palms and had to wipe them several times on his jeans. Luckily, when he arrived at the cafeteria, Suga didn't seem to be there, yet, but he could spot Kuroos notorious bedhead at one of the tables. Daichi went to get something to eat, before he joined his friend at the table.

“Ah, you're here. For a minute I thought you might have chickened out at the last moment.”, he all but drawled, and Daichi grumbled.

“Shut up. I'm here, aren't I?”

“Yep. Now, all that's missing is our main man for today!”, Kuroo laughed, just as his phone chimed with the arrival of a text message.

Daichi watched him read it with furrowed brows, before he typed out a quick answer.

“Suga'll be a little late, it seems. His prof extended the lecture, apparently. He said we should start without him.”, Kuroo sighed, while he pocketed his phone again.

It was obvious he didn't believe that text.

“That's fine.” _'As long as he really comes'_ , Daichi thought.

He really didn't mean to be sarcastic -even if it was just in his own mind- but he couldn't help it. Not after what he had heard from Kuroo about Suga earlier.

“I said we'll wait for him anyway. It shouldn't take him too long to get here.”

Sugawara-Kun did show up, looking quite disgruntled, but to Daichi, it didn't matter. He was happy to be able to see his crush up close. While Suga took his seat across from Kuroo, he spotted a beauty mark just beneath the blondes left eye. He hadn't noticed that before, and his mind was just about to come up with some ridiculously cheesy lines he could say about it, when he noticed that Kuroo stole practically half of Sugas meal. And before he could even stop himself -or think through what he actually was going to say- a stammered question left his mouth.

“Uhm... I hope you don't mind me asking, but... uhm, you guys aren't dating, are you?”

Gosh! What was he thinking?! Had he even been thinking at all?! The second the question left him, Daichis face flushed red again. If he kept going like that, it would become a new habit of his,probably. Luckily, he was distracted by Kuroos merry laughter, so that he almost didn't catch Sugas frown.

“Oh hell no! I do have a boyfriend. Suga and I just have made a food-agreement. I get to eat all of his meat and fish, and he gets the fruits and vegetables I don't like.”

“But why? You need to eat meat!”, Daichi all but blurted out, and he inwardly scolded himself for his athlete-instincts, that instantly kicked in.

This time, he couldn't possibly miss Sugas disapproval, which he showed with an annoyed roll of his eyes, while Kuroo answered again.

“Suga's a vegetarian, so it's fine. This way, nothing gets wasted. Oh, by the way! I believe you two haven't met officially before, have you? Daichi, this is Sugawara Koushi-Kun, my best man. Suga, this is Sawamura Daichi-Kun, the captain of my volleyball team.”, Kuroo introduced them, which resulted in Suga looking at Daichi for the first time since he had joined them.

The quick nod had Daichis heartbeat speeding up, even though he knew it was foolish. He was a grown man, wasn't he?

“It's nice to meet you, Sugawara-Kun.”, he managed to to greet the blonde properly, without stuttering and stumbling over his words -and without blushing _again_.

It was obvious though, that Suga didn't think the same way. He hadn't even said one word yet, and Daichi was relieved, when Kuroo started to talk to him about nonsensical stuff. It helped him forget his uneasiness, though he stole a few glances at his crush now and then.

Suga ate in silence, obviously not wanting to join in on their conversation, and when he was done not too much later, he all but jumped from his seat.

“Well then, I gotta get going. See you later, Kuroo.”, the blonde bid Kuroo good-bye and left, balancing his empty tray of food away.

“He really doesn't like me, does he?”, Daichi mumbled, when Suga was out of earshot.

“He'll come around. Trust me.”

“How can you be so positive, Kuroo? He didn't even so much as look at me! I'm pretty sure he was quite annoyed at me just for being here.”

“That's a part of it, yes. But more than that he was angry at me. By the way, I had to promise I'd owe him big time in order for him to join us. I think I have earned myself a 'thank you' here, haven't I?”, Kuroo teased, what caused Daichi to sigh.

“I guess so. Thank you, cat.”

“Oh come on, don't take it to heart. Suga didn't even look at me once, in case you hadn't noticed, and neither did he talk to me, either. Except when he took his leave, that is.”

Daichis eyes widened in realization, and he nodded.

“See? I told you. He's predictable. If you know that, and you know hi reactions, you'll have no trouble to make him get along with you. I'm not telling you, though, so don't bother asking. That is something you need to figure out on your own. But I _will_ help you a little, for now. Until he's no longer acting like it's the end of the world every time he has to be around you. So, see you tomorrow? Same time, same place?”

There was nothing else for Daichi to do but nod.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I don't know if anyone would be interested, but I'm looking for a beta-reader for this fic!  
> If you'd like to help me out, feel free to message me!  
> Now, have fun reading!

When his friends left, it was almost midnight, and Suga was wide awake. He strolled through the rooms of his flat, looking for something to do, but he didn't find anything. Well, he _could_ get started on that essay for Takeda-Sensei, but he didn't really feel like it. He would do it, of course (here was never an assignment he didn't do), just not right now. He sighed and eventually slumped on his couch. Leaning back, he looked up at the ceiling, but he didn't really see it. His mind was blank, he wasn't really thinking of anything, when he suddenly jumped back on his feet and went over to his bedroom.

His guitar was a little dusty and he would have to tune it first, in order to play it, but that was his own fault, he guessed, since he hadn't played in a long while. He took the instrument back into his living room, where he cleaned and tuned it, and then he made himself comfortable on his couch, the guitar in his hands. Slowly, he started picking at the wires and eventually eased his fingers into a calm melody. He hummed along silently, not really sure, what that song was, he was playing. He must have heard it before, somewhere, but he couldn't tell when or where. Probably somewhere on the radio or while he was out, shopping. It didn't really matter, though. He only played the guitar for his own enjoyment, when he felt like it, and he wasn't even that good. He could play most of his favourite songs and a few catchy melodies he had heard before, but that was it. Nothing special.

When he finally went to sleep that night, he hoped the next day wouldn't be the same as this one had been. Luckily, he could sleep in.

“Ack! I'm late! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!”, Suga cussed, while he stumbled through his flat, getting ready in record-time.

At one point, he fell over Freyja, and the feline definitely wasn't happy about that. She hissed at him, before she gave an annoyed flick of her tail and went to jump up on her favourite spot on the shelf, where she could follow Sugas stumbling around without being in the immediate danger of being tripped over again. The other two didn't even show themselves, instead waiting for Suga to leave the apartment, before the dared to come out.

At the very least, Suga didn't forget to feed his cats before he left. It had happened once, and his flat had been a complete mess by the time he came back from college in the evening.

For now, Suga hurried down the streets, his hair a complete mess and the buttons of his shirt only halfway done. Well, he wore a t-shirt underneath it, so it wasn't like he was showing too much skin or something like that.

He was just arriving on the campus, when his phone went off. Stopping to a halt, he pulled it out and answered the call without looking for who was calling him.

“Suga? Where are you? You're half an hour late! And you didn't even message me! What happened?”, he could hear Kuroos concerned voice, as well as quite some background noise -probably chatter from the other people in the cafeteria.

“Haah... I... overslept.”, Suga rasped out, while he tried to catch his breath.

“I'll be there in a minute. Just arrived on campus.”

“Jeez. What's with you? The one time I don't come to wake you and pick you up, and you oversleep!”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry about that. See you in a minute.”, the blond ended the conversation and set out into a jog, headed for the cafeteria.

His stomach grumbled -his last meal had been yesterday evening, and now it was 14:03. He really needed something to eat!

When he arrived at their usual table, a tray of food in his hands, he frowned. Kuroo wasn't alone, like he had expected him to be. No, with him sat Sawamura-San. He wondered, what that was all about and gave his best friend a pointed look. Kuroo, however, didn't seem fazed at all, and greeted Suga cheerily.

“Hey, Sugar-Chan. Daichi is sitting with us again today. You don't mind, do you?”

And with that, he took Sugas tray from him and started to pick out all the fish.

 _'It's not like I get to choose, anyway, do I?'_ , Suga thought, but didn't vocalize it.

“Oh, and by the way, you should button up your shirt correctly.”

The blond frowned, but did as he was told, still ignoring Sawamura completely.

“What is this, Kuroo? What are you planning?”, he finally implored, knowing his best friend was up to something, bringing his teams captain to their lunch again - _and_ _without telling him_ beforehand, this time.

“Me? I don't plan anything!”

He didn't believe that -at all- and gave Kuroo a glare that chilled him right through to the bones. His black haired friend gulped, but didn't break under Sugas gaze, and finally Suga gave up.

“Fine, bring him along, if you absolutely have to. But every time you do, I will get to ask another favour from you, Kuroo.”, Suga grumbled.

He knew, Kuroo wouldn't stop bringing Sawamura-San, but with this,he hoped he could keep the time he had to spend in the others presence considerably lesser than it would have been otherwise, without the condition.

“Sugaaa! That's harsh!”, Kuroo whined.

“It's your own fault for bringing him in the first place. Now, let me have my tray. I'm starving!”, the blond frowned and pulled his tray back to him, now laden with the doubled amount of vegetables and an extra apple.

“Fine, fine. But nothing too ridiculous!”, the cat tried to barter.

“I won't make any promises on that one, Kuroo.”

“But, Sugar-Chaaan!”

“No. You brought that on yourself.”, Suga made himself clear and took a bite from his apple.

He didn't even seem to care, that the object of their discussion was sitting right there with them and could hear everything he said.

Sawamura, who had followed their discussion silently, sighed under his breath and tried not to draw Sugas attention to him, in case he would get to be reprimanded, too. Not, that he'd mind that, though. He would have been happy if he actually got to talk to his crush, but the guy completely ignored him, just like the day before.

From then on, their lunch was a silent affair, but at least Suga didn't inhale his food, like he had done previously. And the silence didn't feel too overbearing. It wasn't exactly comfortable, either, but the three of them felt something like reluctant acceptance settle between them. That made Kuroo grin quite contently, and Suga couldn't possibly miss that -not with the two of them sitting opposite of each other.

He furrowed his brows in thought, but didn't say anything, having decided to later confront his best friend about this... situation. He had figured by now that Kuroo wouldn't say anything, as long as Sawamura-San was around. Well, he actually had his suspicions on what his friend was trying to pull on him, but right now that was hardly more than a wild guess, at best. Before he revealed his assumption to Kuroo, he needed to have more proof than just two lunches in just as many days, to which Kuroo brought his volleyball-teams' captain.

“Ah, Kuroo, before I forget -I was hoping we could go over some of the new tactics for the team?”, Sawamura-San finally broke the silence, when they were almost done with their meals.

Suga actually perked up at that, but he tried not to look too curious. He had stopped playing volleyball. Even though he loved the sport -still did, actually.

“Sure. Show me, what you got.”, Kuroo agreed and with him waited, while his captain pulled a few rumpled sheets of loose paper out of his bag.

On them, Suga could see several sketches of courts, dots with names under them and drawn arrows, pointing in this or that direction, though he couldn't make too much of them from his perspective. Kuroo and Sawamura-San started discussing them, while Suga finished his meal. He was about to pack up and take his leave, when Kuroo spoke up.

“What do you think of these, Suga?”, and with that, he shoved the papers over the table to his friend.

The blond looked sceptically at Kuroo, but accepted the papers, anyway. He was just too curious. He took his sweet time studying them, though, knowing fully well, that this irked his best friend -before he sighed and put them back on the table.

“There are quite some interesting ideas on them, but I doubt your team will be able to perform most of these attacks right now.”

Now, don't get him wrong, he didn't mean to affront the two players, he was just stating an obvious truth. Surprisingly, it wasn't Kuroo, who answered him, but Sawamura-San.

“I know that. And with both of our setters gone, it's going to be even harder. Our first-years can't set at all. But we need those strategies to work, or else we won't be able to get though the next tournaments.”

Suga contemplated for a moment, looking directly at him.

“That's bad luck, then. You should better go train them, I guess.”, he eventually answered calmly, though not with too much interest.

“Wish we could. I'm no good as a setter, and Daichi isn't, either. If we had at least someone, who could show them, or would play with us...”, Kuroo brought himself back into the conversation.

“Are you implying that I should join your team and start playing again, Kuroo?”, Suga frowned.

His best friend blinked, genuinely surprised. He really hadn't thought of that before!

“I'm not. But that _would_ be a great idea, actually. Why don't you try?”, he drawled, and Suga was just about to answer, when Sawamura-San spoke again.

“You don't have to join the team, if you don't want to, Sugawara-Kun, but it would be great if you could show the first-years some basic techniques, I guess. Kuroo actually told me that you were playing as your High Schools starting setter throughout all three years. Someone with your experience would do our team surely some good.”

The blond sighed. He had no real reason to oppose to that, except that he would have to be around Sawamura-San even more, if he agreed. But if he stopped lying to himself; he actually would like to start playing again...

“I don't know. I'll think about it.”, he eventually mumbled.

“Oh come on! He said you didn't have to join! Just teach the first-years!”, Kuroo urged him on.

“Besides, those guys won't bite you, you know? And you usually aren't this indecisive about things like this. What's stopping you, Suga?”

“Nothing, Kuroo. I don't know, okay? I said I'll think about it, and that's it! Got it?”, Suga actually snapped at him and looked shocked, the moment he realized what he just had said.

“Ack! I didn't mean to be so rude! Sorry, Kuroo!”, he immediately apologized, clapping his hands together in front of his face and bowing his head.

His best friend nodded, accepting the apology.

“That's fine. Though you better tell me later what's it is, that's gotten you all upset. And no lame excuses, you hear me?”

He seemed to have noticed something was up and that Suga hadn't told them the entire truth of that matter. Which he hadn't, obviously.

“We'll see about that. Oh, we should get going, or we're going to be late.”, the blond avoided a direct answer to that question and from that point, their conversation drifted to different matters.

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 15:17

Subject: Earlier

Text: So? Spill it. What's going on? Why don't you want to join the team? It can't be just because of Daichi, right?

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 15:20

Subject: Earlier

Text: That's nothing to text about, actually. But you're right, this isn't entirely about Sawamura-San.

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 15:23

Subject: Earlier

Text: Okay. I'm coming over tonight. And you're going to tell me _in detail_ about your reasons. Also, I want to know why you stopped in the first place. Back then you never answered my questions.

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 15:28

Subject: Earlier

Text: Well, I guess I had that one coming for me, hadn't I? You can come over.

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 15:31

Subject: Earlier

Text: You absolutely had. The usual time? Should I bring anything?

 

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 15:32

Subject: Earlier

Text: Nah, only if you want anything special to eat.

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 15:34

Subject: Earlier

Text: Okay. See you tonight, then.

 

 

Suga sighed. He knew he would have to tell someone, eventually, and maybe it was for the best that it would be Kuroo, but he still wasn't a hundred percent sure. Meaningless to say, he wasn't able to concentrate on the rest of his lectures for today, at all. There were too many thoughts swirling in his mind that he tried to sort out. He also tried to prepare some kind of a plan for what he was going to tell Kuroo, but it didn't work. His thoughts were too jumbled, so he eventually gave up on it.

That evening, when Kuroo came, Suga already had prepared a can of tea and a big bowl of cookies -he would need them, to get through with his tale- which he had placed on the small coffee-table in his living room. Kuroo hadn't brought anything, but Suga had been expecting that, actually.

“Make yourself comfortable. I'll just get the mugs.”, the blond ordered and shooed his friend to the living room.

Kuroo followed his orders and plopped himself down on the couch, where one of Sugas cats joined him immediately. Sigyn had taken a liking to Kuroo right from the start, and whenever the dark haired male would be over, she came to cuddle with him. Suga sometimes threatened Kuroo to give Sigyn to him, when he was being especially affectionate to her, but both of them knew that those were all nothing but empty threats. Suga would never give one of his cats away.

When the blond came back, two mugs in hand, and sat down next to Kuroo, he sighed. He still didn't know how to go about what he was going to tell his best friend. Luckily, his friend knew he should let Suga take his time, until he was ready to talk. It was the best course of action -in this kind of situation- not to rush Suga.

“Well, you see...”, Suga eventually started and then took a bite from a cookie.

“I've stopped playing volleyball, because... well...”

Ugh! This was dump! He shouldn't have said he'll tell Kuroo! What was he thinking?! His friend on the other hand just raised an eyebrow in question, when Suga stopped talking again.

“I guess... I stopped, because I was afraid. Stupid, isn't it?”, the blond mumbled, almost inaudibly.

But Kuroo had a bats' ears and understood every word, anyway.

“Afraid? Afraid of what?”, he wanted to know, pouring himself and Suga some of the tea his friend had prepared.

“Not afraid of _what_ , afraid of _whom_.”, Suga clarified, visibly tensing.

The black haired male cocked his head to the side, showing that he was intently listening to his friend.

“Uhm... you see... back then, in our summer holidays before our first year of college... You remember I went on a vacation with my parents, right?”

Kuroo only nodded.

“Okay, so... we went to that one town, not too far away from here, actually, and -well...”

Suga took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to say and leant back on the couch, looking up at the ceiling.

“One night, I was out pretty late, because I wanted to get a few snacks... The thing is, while I was on my way back from the store, I... I got attacked. It was a group of people my age, and at first I wasn't even afraid of them. But... let's just say, things got really bad really quick. I don't want to go into the details.”

Kuroos demeanour had completely changed by now. His usual calm, relaxed behaviour had vanished, and instead he was emitting a dark aura, that Suga -would he have to describe it- identified as cold blooded killing intend.

“That's why you wouldn't meet up with us when you came back, wasn't it?”, he asked, no hints of emotion whatsoever in his voice.

It was just... cold. Suga knew though, that this coldness wasn't directed at him, but at those guys that beat him up that night.

“Yeah. I didn't want you guys to see me all battered and bruised and everything.”

He hadn't wanted them to think that he was weak, because he wasn't. He refused to believe that, despite what those thugs had said.

“Figured. So, what happened then?”

The blond sighed.

“Well, we pressed charges against them and I never thought I'd see those guys again, but, that day... At the try-outs. They were there. All of them. They were all on the team, Kuroo. I don't think they recognized me that day, but I didn't want to take chances on that and quitted. There you have it. That's the story.”

Kuroo growled.

“Are they still playing?”

“No. when the process was over, they left college, I think. At least I haven't seen them around in a long while.”

“Hmpf. That's something, at least. But you still don't really want to come back, do you?”

“Wish I knew. I know I love to play, that's for sure, but I still haven't recovered, I guess. I'm still thinking they might show up at some point again. I know that's completely ridiculous, though.”

“No, it's not. It's not ridiculous. Don't you dare say that again, Suga! That's a completely normal reaction to what has happened. It's understandable.”

Suga nodded slowly, while Kuroo clapped him on the shoulder. By now, the blond had eaten all the cookies, and the tea was getting cold.

“Part of me knows that. It's just... hard to accept, I guess.”

“That's okay. Now. I won't pressure you anymore to come back playing or teach the first-years. I can understand that you'd like it better to stay away from the gym, except when we're having a match.”, Kuroo winked at him.

“That's not true! I go there all the time to pick you up after practice!”, Suga frowned, which had Kuroo laughing.

“Ah, sorry, I forgot that, Sugar-Chan.”

“ _Kuroo._ ”

“Sorry, sorry. I'll stop now.”

“It'd be better for your own good.”

“Sure.”

After that, they both stayed quiet for a while, before Suga spoke up again.

“You know, I really _do want_ to start playing again. And I can't let myself always be controlled by my fears, can I?”

The black haired male nodded solemnly.

“Yep. So that means you're coming back? Even if you have to be around Daichi all the time?”

Suga furrowed his brows in thought. He had completely forgotten about that guy.

“Maybe. For now, I think I'll come to see what your first-years are capable of and probably teach them some basics.”

Kuroo nodded.

“Sounds good enough to me. You're coming tomorrow, then?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Great! I'm sure Daichi will be happy about that!”, he grinned.

“Speaking of, why are you bringing him to lunch, even though you know I can't stand that guy?”, Suga implored.

“Huh? Why can't I bring a friend once in a while?”, his friend asked innocently, and Suga tsked.

“I know you are planning something. I know you, Kuroo, I can tell when you're up to something no good. So you'd better just spill it already.”

“Hmmm? But that would be no fun, wouldn't it? Besides, I promised I wouldn't tell!”

“So there _is_ something!”, Suga exclaimed, exasperated.

“You are not trying to set me up with him, are you? Kuroo?”, the blond wanted to know.

“Hmm? I wonder.”, his friend smirked.

It caused Suga to look at him sceptically.

“What in the world makes you think that he and I would make a good couple? And aside from that: I'm not even gay, so why would I date a guy in the first place?”, the blond tried to reason with Kuroo.

“You don't know if you're gay or not until you actually try it. Or at least had a relationship with a girl and realized that the thought of her naked doesn't turn you on in the slightest. You never were in a relationship before, heck, Suga, you haven't even had your first kiss yet! How can you know that you're a perfectly straight guy? You don't, and don't try to prove me wrong, because you _can't._ ”

Kuroos little speech had Suga blushing, and he clasped his hands in front of his face in order to cover it. Then, he groaned in dismay, because _Kuroo was right._ He didn't know if he was gay or not, since he never had a love interest in neither a male nor female person, and he really never had kissed anyone before. -Well, not on the lips, that is. He kissed Shimizu-Chan on the cheeks to greet her, but that was about it, when it came to the experience he had on kissing.

“Still, that doesn't mean you have to set me up with Sawamura-San. What makes you think, that would be a good idea?”, he wanted to know, once he had calmed down a few seconds later.

“My intuition, I guess? Come on, Suga. Daichi really isn't such a bad guy as you make him out to be. Why don't you give him a chance? Get to know him a little, maybe become friends with him? I'm not saying you have to date him right away -or at all, if you really don't like him then- but do try to give him the benefit of the doubt, will you?”, Kuroo suggested, and Suga furrowed his brows in thought.

“I don't know, Kuroo.”

And with that, he ended the topic.

 


	4. Chapter 4

From: Trashcat, 12:26

Subject: Lunch

Text: Don't forget to join us again!

 

 

To: Trashcat, 12:28

Subject: Lunch

Text: I won't. But don't you think he'll be mad if I show up two days in a row?

 

 

From: Trashcat, 12:29

Subject: Lunch

Text: Maybe. But it's worth it, isn't it?

 

 

To: Trashcat, 12:30

Subject: Lunch

Text: Guess so.

 

 

From: Trashcat, 12:33

Subject: Lunch

Text: Don't be so moody, Daichi!

 

 

To: Trashcat, 12:34

Subject: Lunch

Text: I'm not!

 

 

From: Trashcat, 12:35

Subject: Lunch

Text: Yes you are! I can practically see you glaring at your phone right now!

 

 

Daichi sighed. Kuroo knew him too well. But he guessed almost two years of volleyball practices and hanging out together did that to you. Well, that, and Kuroos sharp personality. That guy noticed absolutely everything. Actually it had surprised Daichi that the cat hadn't picked up on his crush on Suga way earlier. He had been _so_ obvious about it, he couldn't even-!

“Oy, Daichi! Stop daydreaming! I'm trying to have a conversation with you!”, Noya interrupted his train of thought.

“Hah? Oh, sorry, I guess. What did you ask?”

Daichi scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

“I wanted to know how yesterdays' lunch went!”

This left Daichi to sigh yet again. Yesterday, huh?

“I guess it could have gone better. He left after ten minutes. And for the time he was there, he didn't even say so much as one word.”, he muttered, before he downed half of his coffee.

“Oh? Is he a shy guy?”, Noya wanted to know, with honest concern in his eyes.

“No, I don't think that was the reason.”

He knew perfectly well why Suga hadn't said a word when he had sat down with them, but he wouldn't tell Noya. The barista was too much of a chatterbox, and with his job... No, that was too much of a risk and Daichi wasn't willing to take his chances.

“Eh? But what other reason could he have for not talking?”

“I'm not sure.”, Daichi tried to shrug it off. He knew, lying wasn't the best idea, but this was kind of a white lie, so he would be forgiven -well, he hoped he would be.

“Did you at least try to talk to him?”

“Uhm... well, I... I introduced myself, but that didn't go very well.”, he hung his head and Noya actually petted his hair in a comforting manner.

“Don't worry. I don't know that guy, but I know you're a good guy, Daichi. That crush of yours will come to notice that soon enough. And maybe he just had a tough day and was in a bad mood yesterday. I'm sure the next time you'll see him, he'll talk to you!”, the barista tried to cheer him up, and Daichi actually managed a small, but hopeful smile, before he took another sip from his coffee.

“We'll see about that, I guess. Thanks for cheering me up, Noya.”

“No problem! You know I always have your back, cap!”, the short man grinned widely.

“Yeah. Oh, before I forget: Bokuto is having a party over at Akaashis' on Saturday. He said you're welcome, too.”

The barista practically beamed at him.

“Really?”

“Yes. Oh, and I _think_ we might just be able to convince Asahi to come, too. That hermit can't stay holed up in his room and study all the time.”

Daichi grumbled the last part, but that didn't matter to the barista, who had stopped listening midway through.

“Oooh! Awesome! Then it'll be even more fun! When does it start, anyway?”

“I think at around ten? But you better ask Bokuto about that to be sure. The guys said they'll have booze and everything else prepared, so you don't need to bring anything, I guess.”

Noya nodded, making a mental note of that information.

“Great! I'll be there! Say thanks to Bokuto for me!”

“Sure will.”, Daichi smiled and finished his coffee.

He still had some time left until he was meeting up with Kuroo so he had time to chat with Noya a little while longer, but he didn't like the taste of cold coffee (that stuff was disgusting), so he drank it before it could cool off too much.

In the cafeteria, he had to wait for Kuroo to arrive, even though he was a little late himself. His chat with Nishinoya had distracted him from the flow of time, and when he finally noticed, he was late already. He was lucky Kuroo didn't care for such things, though.

“Ah, sorry, Daichi! I got caught up by Nekomata-Sensei. He wanted to talk about my last essay...”, Kuroo apologized, but Daichi waved it off. It didn't matter.

“It's fine. I just got here myself.”

“Great! Then let's get something to eat! Suga should be here any minute, too.”

“If you say so.”, Daichi smiled and they went to stand in the queue to wait for their turn.

“He should. Today it's only afternoon-courses for him, so he always just shows up on campus around lunch.”, Kuroo explained and Daichi nodded.

But when Suga _still_ wasn't there half an hour later, Kuroo got restless.

“That's not like him. He usually at least messages me if he can't make it.”, he wondered and unlocked his phone in order to check if maybe he had missed a text or call from his best friend.

“Nothing, huh?”, he sighed when the screen was blank, void of any new messages or missed calls.

“Why don't you just give him a call, though? Then you know what's up. I mean, the worst that could happen is he wouldn't pick up, right?”, Daichi suggested.

“Yeah, you're probably right. I'm gonna try that.”, and with that he was already dialling Sugas number.

After a moment of silence, where Kuroo listened to the tut-tut which indicated that the call was connecting he started speaking into his phone. So Suga had answered and now Daichi could listen to Kuroos slightly concerned voice, while he talked to his best friend. When the call ended not a minute later, Kuroo shook his head, disbelieve written all over his face.

“Seriously, that guy!”, he exclaimed, “It's the one day I _don't_ come to pick him up and what does he do? He oversleeps! Majorly!”

Kuroo grumbled to himself and Daichi patted him on the back to calm him down.

“Well, he is on his way, isn't he?”, he tried to lighten Kuroos mood, and the dark haired male nodded.

“Yeah, he should be here in a minute or two, more or less. He said he just arrived on campus.”

Daichi nodded again, thinking about the route Sugawara-Kun would have to take to get to the cafeteria. They weren't that far from the main entrance, so he was probably right with his estimation. Just about a minute later the blond arrived at their table, looking a little dishevelled with his mussed up hair, an only halfway buttoned up shirt and a little sweat shimmering on his forehead -probably from his rush to get here. His looks had Daichis heart speeding up and the blood rushed to his cheeks. Suga looked really good, like, _really, really, really_ good. Too good to be true. Daichi had to bite himself on his tongue to snap out of his thoughts, so that he could pay attention to what Kuroo hand his crush were discussing. Their conversation seemed to be in full swing already -he must have been out of it longer than he'd realized.

“...any promises on that one, Kuroo.”, he heard Sugawara chide his best friend and wondered, what that could be about.

He should have paid more attention!

“But, Sugar-Chaaan!”, Kuroo whined but it didn't seem to faze the blond -just as it wouldn't have fazed Daichi himself, had it been directed at him.

“No. You brought that on yourself.”

And that was Sugawara-Kuns final word to whatever it was that the two of them just discussed. Daichi huffed. Sugawara still hadn't even acknowledged his presence. -Well, not while he was actually paying attention. For all he knew, he could have done that while Daichi was spacing out earlier. Then he'd have no one but himself to blame for that. He sighed heavily, when he thought about that, but didn't try to start a conversation. Instead, the three of them settled to eat their lunch in silence and Daichi noticed just now, that Kuroo and Suga had split up their food again. He should have been expecting that, though.

“Ah, Kuroo, before I forget -I was hoping we could go over some of the new tactics for the team?”, Daichi finally broke the silence when they were almost done with eating.

He didn't like that awkward feeling, that came along with it -at least to him it felt like that- and he wanted to get rid of that feeling. Maybe talking about volleyball would do the trick.

“Sure. Show me, what you got.”, Kuroo agreed and shovelled down the last few bites of his lunch while Daichi pulled some rumpled sheets of paper from his bag.

The two of them immersed themselves in a discussion about player-positions, attacks, attack-patterns and tactics, based on the sketched out ideas Daichi had noted on the papers. He had found some interesting techniques on the internet and thought they might help his team to win a few matches in the next tournaments. Both, Kuroo and himself weren't so sure those strategies and attacks would work out, though. Not with their current team, at least.

“What do you think of these, Suga?”, Kuroo finally asked his friend, who hadn't taken part in their conversation up until now.

The blond took his time in analysing the tactics and moves, and when he finally put the papers back down, Daichi knew what Sugawara was going to say. Well, let's say he was 90 % sure. The other 10% were for the possibility of him not answering at all, or not giving a relevant one. But he was fairly certain that wouldn't happen.

“There are quite some interesting ideas on them, but I doubt your team will be able to perform most of these attacks right now.”

Though he didn't back up his statement with any explicit reasons on why he thought so, Daichi knew that Suga was right. After all, he and Kuroo had come to the same conclusion.

“I know that. And with both of our setters gone, it's going to be even harder. Our first-years can't set at all. But we need those strategies to work, or else we won't be able to get though the next tournaments.”, he explained the teams current situation, just to be surprised by the blond, who was now directly looking at him.

“That's bad luck, then. You should better go train them, I guess.”, he addressed Daichi calmly, though he was clearly emitting an aura of disinterest towards him.

Before he could come up with an answer, Kuroo spoke up, though, drawing their attention to him. Daichi listened to Kuroos and Sugawaras short exchange and then chimed in just when Kuroo suggested for Suga to become their teams setter. As much as Daichi was thrilled by that idea; he could see that Suga clearly wasn't, and he was not going to push him into something he wasn't willing to do.

“You don't have to join the team, if you don't want to, Sugawara-Kun, but it would be great if you could show the first-years some basic techniques, I guess. Kuroo actually told me that you were playing as your High Schools starting setter throughout all three years. Someone with your experience would do our team surely some good.”

Sugawara-Kun sighed.

“I don't know. I'll think about it.”

This reply was more than enough for Daichi -he couldn't possibly ask more from the blond, not while he still didn't know him very well, anyway. Kuroo, on the other hand didn't seem like he was very pleased with that and tried to convince his best friend.

“Oh come on! He said you didn't have to join! Just teach the first-years! Besides, those guys won't bite you, you know? And you usually aren't this indecisive about things like this. What's stopping you, Suga?”

To their own surprise, Suga snapped at that and gave Kuroo quite the harsh answer to that, though he seemed to immediately regret his words and apologized in the same breath. Kuroo accepted it, but he demanded that Suga'd better tell him what was wrong with him.

“We'll see about that. Oh, we should get going, or we're going to be late.”, the blond avoided a direct answer and managed to successfully change the topic of their conversation.

After that little episode was over, Daichi concentrated mostly on listening to the blond and Kuroo bickering about trivial matters, not really bothering to join in. He was content to listen and learn new things about his crush in that way. Besides, being the quiet observer, had its perks, too. He was able to watch Suga, to observe the gestures he made while talking animately, the way his warm brown eyes lit up when he was able to give a smug return to one of Kuroos teasing remarks, the way he smiled wholeheartedly and the playful hits Kuroo received more than once when he said something apparently offending (the black haired one seemed to be used to those whacks, though, and didn't even bother to try and dodge them). Daichi learnt that he liked the sound of Sugawaras laugh and the way he smiled. Sadly, their time together soon came to an end when the bell for the afternoon courses rang and they had to separate ways.

 

 

From: Trashcat, 22:37

Subject: Volleyball

Text: You are one lucky man, captain! I got our blond angel to come to practice tomorrow. He said he wanted to see what the first-years are capable of and maybe train them! Am I not great?

 

 

To: Trashcat, 22:46

Subject: Volleyball

Text: Wow! How did you get him to agree? You didn't blackmail him, did you?

 

 

From: Trashcat, 22:48

Subject: Volleyball

Text: No! I didn't! What do you think of me? I was over at his place earlier and we talked for a while. He told me why he didn't want to come, but we worked it out.

 

 

To: Trashcat, 22:49

Subject: Volleyball

Text: It wasn't because of me, was it?

 

 

From: Trashcat, 22:53

Subject: Volleyball

Text: No, you are not the reason. I can't tell you why, since he made me promise not to tell anyone, though I wouldn't do that anyway. It's a story he'd better tell you himself.

 

 

To: Trashcat,22:55

Subject: Volleyball

Text: I'm relieved to hear that. And I won't make you tell me. Of course I'd like to know, but I guess that has to wait until he eventually tells me out of his own accord.

 

 

From: Trashcat, 22:59

Subject: Volleyball

Text: Well, then you better start working hard! I'm bringing Suga to tomorrows practice, then. You can tell the others. See you then!

 

 

To: Trashcat, 23:00

Subject: Volleyball

Text: Will do. See you tomorrow!

 

 

The day couldn't go by fast enough for Daichi. His courses were dragging on for forever it seemed, and he wasn't able to concentrate very much, since his thoughts kept to wander off to a certain blond guy every so often. Not that it actually bothered him to think about Sugawara-Kun, but he _should_ pay attention to Ukais courses, since the man had the annoying habit of making them do knowledge-test of his last few lessons every other day. And Daichi didn't want to fail any of these. It hadn't happened before, but he didn't want to put his relatively good marks at risk. Of course, one failed test generally wasn't that big of a deal, but he'd rather not take his chances on that. He was just happy when the last course was finally over and he could head over to the gym.

Some of the others were already there when he arrived and he listened to their mindless chatter while he changed into his sports attire. Kuroo and Sugawara-Kun hadn't arrived yet and Daichi guessed it was intentional, so that he could prepare the team for the new guy. When most of them had assembled in the gym, standing in a loose circle and doing their stretches, Daichi announced it.

“Guys, we'll have someone joining us for practice today. Some of you might know him, he's friends with Kuroo-Kun. His name is Sugawara Koushi and he'll help the first years with their setting. Please be nice to him, everyone.”, he explained and watched their reactions.

Some looked slightly confused, others delighted, eager, even. The latter seemed to know Sugawara-Kun, Daichi guessed. Sure enough, one of the other second years spoke up.

“I didn't know Suga played volleyball! How did you get him to join us, Captain?”

“I didn't. He isn't joining the team. He just agreed to help us out with our problems in setting, since he played as a setter in his High School.”, Daichi explained.

He wished Suga would join them, and he really hoped the blond would change his mind about that later, but he wouldn't rush him. He'd let him get used to the team and their antics first, and when he was still around by then, he would ask him again.

“Eh? Why isn't he joining? He isn't in any other clubs, is he? And when he's coming today, he should have the time to come regularly, right?”

“I don't know why he won't join, but I won't pressure him about that. It's his choice. Now, go and run a few laps, everyone!”, and with that, they continued their warm up.

Not too much later they were stopped by Kuroos loud voice, though.

“Captain, we're here! Everyone, come on over!”

They all gathered around Kuroo and his friend, who was standing right next to him, taking the curious looks with the calmness of someone who was used to the treatment. Before Kuroo could introduce him, though, the blond had let his eyes wander over the little group already and grinned widely at them.

“Hello! I'm Sugawara Koushi! I'm here to teach you a few tricks for setting! It's nice meeting you all.”

After that the team did a short round of introductions, everyone said their names and which positions they played and then they went back to warming up, Kuroo and Suga joining in.

Daichi couldn't help but follow Suga with his eyes. The blond looked absolutely gorgeous in his training shorts. And those pale thighs... No! Stop! Don't you dare go there, Daichi! He scolded himself for such inappropriate thoughts and instead fixated his eyes on a spot on the wall in front of him. It wasn't long until he gazed back at Suga again, though. The blond was bending over, stretching, and Daichi inhaled sharply. Damn, that ass! He bit his tongue until he tasted blood in an attempt to punish himself. It helped. A little. When he assumed everyone was done with warming up their muscles, he announced this evenings plan for their training.

“So, the first-years will train setting with Sugawara-Kun first. I trust you lot to behave yourselves. The others will do spiking and receives. We'll change groups later, and if there's still time after that, we're playing a match!”

Shouts of “Yes!” and “Yes, Captain!” echoed through the gym and they all went to their assigned tasks. Daichi allowed himself to watch Sugawara-Kun every now and then, in order to see how he was coping with the rambunctious first-years, but he didn't need to worry. Surprisingly -or not so much so, depends on your point of view- the troublesome lot was diligently following the blonds orders and tips. Everything seemed to go smoothly.

“I knew it, he is doing it as if he's never done anything else but teaching them.”, Kuroo purred into Daichis ear, pulling the captain out of his thoughts.

“If you say so. He does look like he's enjoying himself, though.”

“Yeah. He really wanted to start playing again.”

“Then why didn't he? If you like what you do, do it and don't let anyone or anything stop you from doing it, I say.”

Kuroo sighed, twirling a ball between his palms.

“He... had his reasons, I guess.”

“I know, you're not telling me. That's fine, though. Don't sweat it.”, Daichi shrugged and went to receive a spike from Asahi.

Not long after that conversation, he called out for the groups to switch. Now the first-years were doing spike- and receive-practice and the second-years went to train with Sugawara. Unsurprisingly, Suga was easy to be around and everyone seemed to be relaxed and at ease around him while they chatted away with him amiably. They never stopped doing their tosses and tried to focus on Sugas tips to get better, though. Daichi thought the blond would avoid him -seeing as he was quite disliked by him- and not be given any advice on how to improve his skills, but he was proven wrong soon enough.

“Sawamura-San. You lean too far back while you set. This way, you loose your balance way too easy and you have less control over the ball. Try to keep your back straight. If the ball goes over your head, take a step back instead of leaning back. You don't want to topple over, do you?”, his crush advised friendly enough and Daichi nodded earnestly.

“Thanks for the advice, Sugawara-Kun. I'll try to remember that.”, he mumbled and instantly changed his posture to the one that had been suggested to him. To his own surprise, it went pretty well for a while, but then a ball sailed over his head and he fell back to his old habits. Getting rid of them certainly wasn't easy! He didn't notice his mistake, however, and yelped in surprise when he felt a jab to his back.

“Ouch, hey!”, he turned around to give whomever it was who had dared jabbing him a slating.

He was rendered speechless, though, when he realized it had been Sugawara.

“You were falling back to old habits there, captain. Better get rid of them fast.”

Later Daichi was _so_ sure he saw the hint of a playful, mostly mischievous smile tug on the setters lips, but he was too much in a daze at that moment to fully register it before the blond turned away again. His eyes followed his crushs statue over to Kuroo, who was fooling around more than actually focusing on practice, and he couldn't help but think that maybe there was an underlying message in those words that just had been directed at him. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, finally done!  
> I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did while writing this chapter.  
> Also, I have no experience in playing volleyball, except for back when it was mandatory back in schoolsports, so I have no idea if what I made Suga explain to Daichi at the end actually makes sense. If not, feel free to enlighten me :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited the chapter, since there were a few parts I wasn't entirely happy with. You don't have to re-read it, if you already have read it once, I only made some sentence-rearrangements and added bits and pieces here and there. It's nothing much, really. I doubt most of you'd even notice ^^"  
> Anyway, that's all I wanted to say!

Suga would have been lying if he'd say he wasn't a little nervous today. It was only just lunch time, he was waiting for his best friend to show up and was a nervous wreck on the inside already. Outside, he was as calm and collected as ever. No one could have guessed it. He was glad when Kuroo finally showed up -for once thankfully without Sawamura-San in tow. Another lunch with that guy was nothing Suga needed right now.

“What took you?”, he wanted to know, once Kuroo sat down.

They started to do their usual routine of sorting through their meals and Kuroo took his time in answering the question.

“I had to take care of Kenma. He caught a cold, apparently.”

“Oh, too bad, huh? And just when he agreed to go to that party with you, too.”

“Yeah. Can't be helped, I guess. I'm not sure if I'm going now, though.”

“Why not? You know half of the people on campus anyway. There should be enough people for you to hang out with, right?”, Suga pulled his tray back to himself and started eating, as did Kuroo.

“Sure. It's just, we promised.”

Kuroo pouted, and Suga could understand his distress well enough, he thought.

“Okay, then stay at home and study instead?”

“That's what you would do, Sugar-Chan! I can't do that, you know me!”

“True. Then what do you plan to do?”, he implored and Kuroo sighed in response.

“I don't know. Would you come with me? You're the only one I can ask now!”

“Me? Kuroo, you know I don't like parties very much.”

“I know. But you're my best man, Suga. Pretty please?”, Kuroo made his best puppy face for Suga.

“I don't know, Kuroo. Who's party is it, anyway?”

“Do you know Akaashi? The guy who part-times in the IT-Department?”

“Oh, you mean Keiji-Kun? Sure, I know him.”, Suga nodded, no longer entirely against the idea.

“Yep, that's him. So, the party is at his place and there shouldn't be too many people. Please?”

“Fine, I'll come.”

“Yay! Thanks, Suga! You're the best!”, Kuroo cheered.

“So, you are still coming to practice later, right?”

Sugas face fell. He had just forgotten about that fact and was able to relax a little, and now Kuroo brought it right back up.

“I said so, didn't I?”

He was not one to back out of what he had said he would do. Even if he hadn't exactly promised it.

“Okay. Because I already told Daichi you were coming. You won't believe how happy he was to hear that.”

The blonds face scrunched as he wrinkled his nose in dismay, but he didn't say anything to that. He just thought that their team must be really bad off, when the guy was that happy to hear that he was going to help out.

“Oh, come on, Suga! Benefit of the doubt? He never did anything bad to you, did he? Give him a chance, will you?”, Kuroo frowned and Suga sighed.

“Fine. Benefit of the doubt it is, then. You wouldn't shut up otherwise anyway... damn cat!”, the blond merely grumbled the last part, but his friend would be able to understand it, nonetheless.

Oh, how he would love to wipe that shit eating grin off of Kuroos face! His best friend chuckled, knowing exactly what Suga thought right now.

“Correct, Sugar-Chan. You know me so well! Now, do I need to pick you up later or are we going to meet at the gym?”

The blond frowned.

“I believe I'll be able to find that place without a damn Cheshire cat accompanying me, so thanks, but no thanks. I can manage.”

“Okay. Practice starts at around seven, so do try not to be too late!”

“Why would I?”

“Because I know even though you agreed to give Daichi the benefit of the doubt you'll still try to spend as little time in his presence as possible.”, Kuroo explained.

Damn. That guy really knew him all too well, didn't he? Suga sighed. There was no need to say anything to that. He'd be digging his own grave with that, so he kept quiet and concentrated on finishing his lunch instead.

His courses were a welcome distraction for Suga. It helped him forget that dreaded volleyball practice. At least for a little while, that is. He was just happy that he was able to concentrate today. Another day of spacing out in his courses wouldn't do him any good. And he still had to write that essay for Take-Chan. Exactly why again did he agree to tagging along to that party with Kuroo tomorrow? Oh, yes. Because Kenma was sick and Suga was a good best friend who couldn't say no to any of his friends requests -even if he should. He should really work on that, shouldn't he?

Suga sighed and looked over the notes he had taken so far. Takeda-Sensei was rambling something about a chemical reaction between people who interacted with each other and Suga briefly wondered if that would happen to him and Sawamura-San too, once he got his act together and actually honestly talked to the guy without resenting every second of the interaction. Surprised by his own thoughts, Sugas eyebrows nearly retracted into his hairline before he dismissed the thought. He really shouldn't think about stuff like that. It was useless to worry about things that might never happen, so he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and went back to taking notes. Chances were that he would need them for his essay. Which he, by the way, should start tonight if he wanted to get it done without having to pull all-nighters.

When his courses were over, he dawdled on purpose and was actually the last one to leave the lecture hall. He wondered if he should catch up to Take-Chan and question him on some parts of today’s' lecture, just so he could be a little late for practice. However, he knew Kuroo would most likely come fetch him if he took too long, so he opted for just going already, accepting his supposedly cruel fate. His best friend was already waiting for him, when he arrived at the gyms entrance.

“You're late, I knew it.”

“Hey! You said _at around seven_. Not seven sharp.”, Suga pouted, remembering Kuroos words from lunch.

Besides, it was only 19:05, so what was the big deal anyway?

“Ugh, fine. Let's go change, then. I'm sure the others are already warming up.”

The blond hummed his agreement and followed his friend into the gyms locker rooms. By the time he and Kuroo entered the court, Sugas nervousness had faded completely. Now he was only left with giddy anticipation, itching to hold a volleyball in his hands again. He wasn't bothered at all when Kuroo called out to the whole team to announce their arrival and they huddled around them. For a second, he let his eyes wander over the gathered people, noticing a few faces from his courses.

“Hello! I'm Sugawara Koushi! I'm here to teach you a few tricks for setting! It's nice meeting you all.”, he introduced himself, before Kuroo could actually make a show out of it -and by the face he pulled Suga was sure he had intended to do just that.

Lucky him that he was able to see through Kuroos plans most of the time. After his introduction, the team followed suit and the blond tried his best to memorize most of the names before they went back to their warm ups.

Suga was glad he had kept himself fit and in form, even when he didn't play volleyball for the past one and a half years; if he hadn't, he would've had trouble of keeping up with the team now. Of course, he had to pocket some losses, though. His tosses weren't as accurate as they had been back in his High School days, he came to notice, and his stamina was a little above average at best. He figured it meant that he really should start playing again, not just teaching this ragtag band of sports-idiots what it meant to throw a proper toss. Chances were, they wouldn't understand at all, or worse: they understood the theory of it, but were unable to execute it. Some of the first-years looked like they never held a ball in their hands before. Suga sighed. That would be quite a piece of work, wouldn't it? He wondered about that while he sauntered over to Sawamura-San, who had called the team over to announce today’s plans.

“So, the first-years will train setting with Sugawara-Kun first. I trust you lot to behave yourselves. The others will do spiking and receives. We'll change groups later, and if there's still time after that, we're playing a match!”

Suga was surprised at how readily everyone accepted that and followed Sawamura-Sans orders, but maybe he shouldn't have been. The man always seemed to emit an aura of confidence, reliability and authority, so it was only natural for the others to follow him. He was a born leader, Suga decided, unlike himself. He was far too nice and polite for such a job -which of course were good points, but those could only get you so far.

The practice with the first-years was just as he had expected it to be. They made mostly beginners mistakes, but most of them were eager to learn and improve, so it wasn't that hard to teach them. However, he couldn't help but notice that one or two of them probably would have done better in any other sport. He didn't voice his thoughts out to them, though. Maybe it was better to wait and see how -or if- they improved over time. And even then it wasn't his place to tell them to quit the club, since he was neither a regular member, nor their captain, for that matter. At least all of them were nice enough to involve him in their friendly chatter, so he didn't even notice the time pass by and was completely taken by surprise when Sawamura-San made them switch groups.

It was fine though, since that meant that he now had the opportunity to talk to people he actually knew. Well, more or less, that is. The second-years worked far more concentrated than the first-years had and were able to work out most of his tips with far more ease.

He thought that maybe he could avoid Sawamura-San by busying himself with the others, but after a reprimanding look from Kuroo and his mouthed ' _benefit of the doubt'_ Suga sighed and gave in. For a moment, he watched Sawamura-Sans broad back while the man tossed a ball straight up over his head.

“Sawamura-San. You lean too far back while you set. This way, you loose your balance way too easy and you have less control over the ball. Try to keep your back straight. If the ball goes over your head, take a step back instead of leaning back. You don't want to topple over, do you?”, he finally addressed the captain, when he had seen enough.

It wasn't like his tosses were particularly bad -in fact, they were above average- but there definitely was room to improve for him, Suga thought.

“Thanks for the advice, Sugawara-Kun. I'll try to remember that.”, came the mumbled reply, before the man changed his posture to the one Suga had suggested.

The blond watched him for another moment, and content, when he saw that it seemed to work out, he went to help that tall guy who seemed to become nervous, whenever he came near him. Suga wondered why that was. He wasn't intimidating the other, was he? That could have been the case, if their physiques had been switched and Suga was the tall and strong one, not the smaller, lankier one with barely a fight to put up. It was ridiculous, how someone so tall and strong could be afraid of someone like him, Suga thought. He honestly had no clue to what he could have done to intimidate this guy so much, but he tried to get that giant bundle of nerves to calm down and relax, anyway. Thankfully, it worked soon enough, so he was able to give him a few tips before he went to check back on the captain.

The moment his eyes fell on him, however, a frown made its way to Sugas features. With three quick strides he was standing behind the man and had jabbed him in his rips before he could even think about what he was doing himself.

“Ouch, hey!”, Sawamura-San yelped and spun around, obviously ready to give Suga a slating.

But it never came. Instead, Suga was faced with a pair of big, dark brown eyes that clearly spoke of confusion and bewilderment and the blond couldn't help the words that were tumbling down his lips a second later.

“You were falling back to old habits there, captain. Better get rid of them fast.”, he suggested and was barely able to hold back his mischievous smile before he turned around to seek out his best friend, who was slacking off again, not waiting around for Sawamura-San to snap out of his daze.

“Suga! You know I totally saw that, right?”, the cat practically leered at him and the blond scoffed.

“So? What about it?”

He hadn't done anything wrong, had he?

“What about it? _What about it?!_ Suga, you were practically flirting with him!”, Kuroo gasped, and the blond was just happy they were out of earshot from Sawamura-San.

“Was not!”, he frowned.

“Are you sure? Because it sure as hell looked like it.”, the black haired male wriggled his eyebrows at at him.

“ _Yes, I am_ sure about that. Now start tossing so I can properly criticize you, damn cat.”, Suga almost growled at his best friend and passed the ball he was holding towards him.

It may have contained a little more force than he had intended though, since Kuroo frowned at him when he caught it.

“Okay, okay, Suga.”, he complied, but his eyes were still saying _'You totally did flirt with him just now!'_

The blond huffed and crossed his arms over his chest while he watched Kuroo perform some tosses. Eventually, he gave him a few tips to correct his stance, but it didn't help much.

“Gosh, Kuroo. You didn't lie when you said you're still horrible at tossing! Just what did you do while I wasn't around to keep you in check? Slack off all the time?”, Suga chuckled when they were back in the locker room, changing out of their sweaty sports-attire.

“Uhm, pretty much that, I guess?”, Kuroo grinned and the blond looked at him with mock horror.

“Kuroo! How could you?!”

“The question is: How could I not?”, his friend chuckled along, “I had to take the opportunity given to me! Without you around it sure was an easy ride for me. But I guess that's over now, isn't it, mum?”

Suga grinned fondly at his best friend.

“You're flattering me, cat. Though I stopped being your mum a long time ago, didn't I?”

“Well, that's true, unfortunately. But you could become my -everyone’s- mum again, if you'd join the team. I'm sure everyone would like to have you aboard.”

At that, Sugas mood sunk a little -and Kuroo noticed- but he didn't oppose to the suggestion right away, either.

“What's all that talk of Sugawara-Kun being a mother about?”, Sawamura-San joined their conversation and Suga looked at him, a little startled.

He had completely forgotten that the rest of the team was still around and most likely listening in on their conversation if they weren't having one on their own.

“Back at our High School Suga's been dubbed as our teams mum, because he always cared for everyone and always gave the best advice. He was also the only one able to keep the more ...eager... players in check, kept them from getting too worked up.”, Kuroo explained to his captain.

“Ah, I see.”, was all the guy had to say to that, but he nodded and eyed the blond curiously, anyway.

“I guess that's true. I had almost the same feeling about you when I watched you with the first-years and Asahi, I have to admit.”, he continued, his cheeks flushing slightly.

The blond frowned. He hadn't even noticed he had been watched by Sawamura-San. But he guessed he should have known. Blame it on his concentration on the matters at hand at that time or the simple fact that he had merely enjoyed himself way too much while training with the team.

“Asahi?”, he cocked his head to the side, wondering who could be meant by that name.

“Azumane Asahi. Our ace. He's the shy, nervous one. Our giant with the glass heart.”, Kuroo chimed in and Suga smiled when he made the connections in his mind.

“Oh, okay. It wasn't anything special, though?”

“Yes, it was. Don't belittle yourself like that, Sugar-Chan.”

“Kuroo.”, Suga just reprimanded him not to use that nickname in public.

He didn't want the others to pick it up and start calling him by that name, too.

“What? Stop looking at me like that.”

“You know what I mean!”, he pointed out and pulled his beanie over his head to hide his sweaty, damp hair under it. He would take a shower at home.

“Fine, fine. You ready? Then let's get going! See you, captain!”, Kuroo waved goodbye to his team and then left the locker room, his best friend in tow.

“See you!”, Suga had merely addressed the whole team with a wave over his shoulder, but the room echoed with “See you”-s and “Good bye”-s anyway.

“They like you, you know?”, Kuroo wanted to know, once they were out in the cold and on their way.

Suga just hummed in agreement, feeling a sudden tiredness wash over him and seep deep into his bones. He knew though that he wouldn't get to sleep any time soon, since he still had Take-Chans essay waiting for him, after all.

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 19:44

Subject: Akaashis party

Text: Hey, Sugar-Chan! I'm coming over around nine so we can have a little drink before we head out to Akaashis' later!

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 19:48

Subject: Akaashis party

Text: That's fine with me. How's Kenma holding up? Is he still confined to his bed?

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 19:51

Subject: Akaashis party

Text: Yup. Though he's playing his games already again. I guess he has to do something to keep himself occupied. He was happy enough when I told him you'd come with me to the party, though.

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 19:54

Subject: Akaashis party

Text: That's just how he is, isn't he? Hey, tell him I said to get better soon, okay? He has to come over the next time, too.

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 19:59

Subject: Akaashis party

Text: True! He said he'll think about it. But I'm gonna make sure he will!

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 20:00

Subject: Akaashis party

Text: Great! See you later, then!

 

 

Saturday night came sooner than Suga had expected it would. He wasn't exactly looking forward to spend the night out when he _should_ be working on his essay, but Kuroo had asked and he had agreed. He wouldn't back out of it now. But, he could use the break, he supposed, since he had worked on that essay all day and for the larger part of last night. The only good thing point about that fact was that he now was two thirds finished. He would manage to write an acceptable resume tomorrow, if he didn't drink too much tonight. -Not that he planned on totally wasting himself, anyway.

Well, not unless Kuroo managed to sneak something into his soda again. It had happened before and Suga hadn't talked to him for weeks after that. His best friend hadn't learnt from that experience, though. There were several other attempts to screw with his drinks, even after that, but since Suga was cautious now because of that one time, he let someone else have his drinks, whenever Kuroo brought him some at a party. This actually saved him from some of the worst hangovers his friend had had, and instead of spending the day nursing his own headache, he was trending to his best friend most times on those occasions.

The blond sighed when he thought about that and looked over the document he had worked on all day. Satisfied with his work, he saved it and closed the document. Just in case, he copied the file to his USB, too, to have a back up of it. You could never know what could happen to your laptop, especially when you had three cats around. And Loki in particular was prone to screwing with his stuff. The little devil lived for the sake of destroying his stuff, Suga suspected. There had been several attempts of murder to his phone by shoving it down from desks and shelves, more than a few broken cups and plates, and the feline had even managed to shuffle a plant down from its place on the window sill. Suga didn't know what he'd done to the cat to deserve such a treatment, honestly. He just tried to cope with it and not let his stuff lie around in places that were easy to reach for the white fur ball. Sometimes that didn't stop Loki, though. The cat seemed to be on its personal warpath with Suga. The blond was just happy that all thee of his cats were currently curled up and sleeping next to him on his couch, so he didn't need to bother for them right now and instead chose to clean up the place.

He got up and stretched, making his backbones crack, which was a clear indication for him that he had spent way too much time sitting hunched over the screen of his laptop. He closed the lid and shoved it to the middle of the coffee-table, before he started to pick up several pieces of empty wrapping-paper (he needed his daily dose of chocolate when he worked on essays -for his nerves) and threw them into the trash. Then he carried his used mugs and the plate he had used for his late lunch into the kitchen and placed them in the sink. He would move them to the dishwasher later. For now, he should go and take a shower, since he had spent his whole day in his pyjamas, knowing that he wouldn't be going out until later tonight anyway.

The doorbell rang just when he had finished his shower and was rifling through his drawer for a pair of socks and a fresh boxer to put on. With a glance at his alarm clock he checked the time -20:47- and adjusted the towel around his waist before he went to open the door for his friend.

“You're early, Kuroo.”, Suga frowned and stepped to the side to let him inside.

“You think so? I think I'm right on time.”, the black haired one smirked and closed the door behind him.

“Yes, I do. Now, go make yourself comfortable while I put some clothes on. Oh, but try not to mess with the cats. They're sleeping on the couch.”, the blond explained and then went to retreat into his bedroom.

“Okay, will do.”, Kuroo agreed and wandered off into the kitchen.

Suga could hear him searching through his cupboards for some glasses while he pulled a pair of comfortable, wide jeans over his legs and a plain white T-shirt over his head.

“You're not seriously going to wear that, are you?”, Kuroo wanted to know, once Suga walked into the kitchen, one eyebrow raised in question.

“Hm? Why not? It's comfortable.”

“Because those jeans look like they are at least one size too big for you, Sugar-Chan. You honestly don't know how to dress yourself for a party, right? Come on, I'll pick something for you.”, he ordered and pulled the blond back to his bedroom.

Suga didn't even say anything anymore when his friend started to search through his drawers for a more fitting outfit. He was used to that treatment by now, after all, this scene had repeated itself for more than just a few times over the course of the years they knew each other.

“Hey, where are those jeans you wore on Wednesday?”, his best friend wanted to know and Suga frowned.

“I'm not going to wear those again, Kuroo.”

“Eh?! Of course you are! Come on! They looked good on you!”

“No. Why would I?”

He could do without the insinuating looks and remarks thrown his way, thank you very much. Wearing those jeans practically was an invitation to get jumped, and he didn't want that to happen.

“Because _I say so_. Now strip and put those jeans on already. Oh, and you might want to change your shirt, too.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *flails*  
> here, have a slightly longer chapter today as apology for taking so long to update. ê_e  
> Kuroo sure is a bully, isn't he? And idiot suga just lets him! I don't know why I made those two best friends, honestly xD  
> Anyway, the reason this one took me so long was because i felt the urge to draw a few scenes of Suga from the previous chapters. They're not finished yet, and I'm not even sure I'm going to post them anywere, but if some of you are interested in seeing them anyway, I might reconsider and post them on my tumblr then. ^^"  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did! x3


	6. Chapter 6

Later in the locker room Daichi couldn't help but notice how at ease Sugawara-Kun seemed around the team, how relaxed he was while he chatted and bickered with Kuroo. He seemed to really enjoy himself, so Daichi deemed it safe enough to join in on their conversation.

“What's all that talk of Sugawara-Kun being a mother about?”, he wanted to know, genuinely interested in what may have caused the blond to be called that and why he accepted it so willingly.

It wasn't the man himself to give him the answer though, but Kuroo.

“Back at our High School Suga's been dubbed as our teams mum, because he always cared for everyone and always gave the best advice. He was also the only one able to keep the more ...eager... players in check, kept them from getting too worked up.”, he explained to Daichi, and the captain nodded in understanding.

“Ah, I see.”, for a moment, he contemplated whether to say what he had observed during practice or keep it to himself for now.

 _Ugh, screw it!_ he thought and just went with what came to his mind.

“I guess that's true. I had almost the same feeling about you when I watched you with the first-years and Asahi, I have to admit.”, he continued and tried to fight the blush that crept up his face when he admitted that he had watched Sugawara-Kun.

Said guy didn't seem to be too happy to hear that he had been watched, but he didn't say anything and Daichi figured that if he asked, he would simply say that it was a given for him to watch out for his team and their behaviour, since he was their captain. All their bad behaviour would fall back to him, seeing as they didn't have a coach and their club's advisor only came by every other month to check on them. So he guessed there wouldn't be a way for him to get out of taking the responsibility for the team. Not that he cared, though. He was used to the roll of captaining a team (he had captained his High Schools team, too) and knew what he had to look out for. However, instead of being ignored by the blond, a question was directed at him. Sadly, he wasn't quick enough to answer. In his stead, Kuroo did and Daichi was left out of the conversation from that point on. He didn't mind it too much and focused on changing out of his smelly clothes instead. He kept listening to them with half an ear though, and when they left, he chimed in on the chorus of “See you”-s and “Good bye”-s from his team-mates.

Soon after, the room cleared out completely and he was the last one left. Since it was a Friday night and well past nine o'clock, he had to lock up the gym today. It was an arrangement he had made with the janitor as soon as he became captain, since he felt the team could not only use the practice, but would also appreciate it to be able to power themselves out to their hearts content without having to worry for the time once. And sometimes after practice ended Daichi used the empty gym to train on his own for a little longer. He was by no means possessed with volleyball, but he liked the workout and it was some kind of stress relieve for him. Slamming a volleyball against a wall again and again until the movements were engraved to his mind and body and he could probably do them in his sleep left him switched to automatic-mode. All his thinking and worrying stopped for the time he solely concentrated on keeping the ball in motion.

Today however, he didn't feel like it and instead locked up and left for home. Asahi had said he'd be coming home later, since he wanted to head to that 7/11 bookstore a few blocks down the street first. Apparently he ran out of books again. Daichi sighed and slipped his headphones on when he arrived at the train station, wondering how Asahi was able to pay for all those books he stored in their shared flat and what he could possibly want with all of them. It was a mystery for him, but he guessed it was somehow connected to the fact that the glass-hearted man studied classic literature and japanese language. Well, at least it meant Asahi was easy to please and it was never hard to get him a present for his birthday. Give him a book, and he was the happiest man on earth. Daichi chuckled at that thought, what caused several other people that sat near him to look at him either curious or disturbed. He didn't care though, and instead turned up the volume of his music.

Currently, Nightwishs' _'She is my Sin'_ was playing, and Daichi silently hummed along to it, thinking that the song fit perfectly to his current situation. He was more than just a little smitten with the blond man, and he knew it. It was no use lying to himself about that, when it was so obvious. One could probably tell that from a mile away, and he was just lucky Sugawara-Kun hadn't caught on to that yet. He wasn't saying that Suga was an idiot for not seeing it -in fact, he was happy about it. It meant he could keep ogling him from afar for a little longer and eventually get to know him a little. That is, _if_ the setter would be spending more time with him without ignoring him. Though today might have been a good start on that, right? After all, Sugawara-Kun had talked and given tips to Daichi out of his own accord, hadn't he? That must mean something, he decided.

His Saturday was spend mostly with coursework and rehearsing the current topics, after he had returned from his morning run. Daichi didn't even notice when his phone vibrated several times during the day, informing him of incoming messages. It's not that he didn't care for them, he was just too concentrated. And when he finally snapped out of his concentration-mode, as Asahi and Bokuto both had dubbed it, it was quite late already. Well, he wouldn't be late for the party, that was still a few hours off, but he remembered that he had promised to give a call to his parents today. And they didn't appreciate it when he disturbed them during their dinner. So he quickly grabbed his phone, ignored the message-alerts and called them.

He might be nearing the end of his second year in college, but his parents still cared and fretted over him and had made him promise to call at least twice a month, since visiting them was not an option. They lived a five-hour train ride away from his college, so trips back home always had to be carefully planned with his college schedule in mind (also, despite his good physique he always was exhausted after making the trip, so he travelled as little as possible, to be honest). And while he waited for either his mum or dad to answer the phone, Daichi sauntered out of his room into the kitchen, in search for something to eat.

He found it in the form of leftovers from this mornings breakfast and hummed happily, when he put it into the microwave. The second he closed its door, his father picked up, and while he waited for his food to heat up, Daichi talked to the man about what happened within the last two weeks and what he was planning for the next. His father listened patiently, only adding agreeable remarks here and there, unlike his mother, who'd have showered him in countless questions by now. In that aspect, it was easier to talk to his dad. He didn't ask many questions and never pressed matters unless he felt it was important. Daichi ended the call with his usual “Call you in two weeks!”, and his father wished him to have fun at tonight’s party, when the microwave pinged to inform him that his food was ready.

While he was eating, Asahi poked his head out of his room.

“Ah, you're out of it. Bokuto-San told me to tell you that he already left to go and help Akaashi set up the place.”

Daichi nodded. He had been expecting something like that, actually.

“That's fine. We'll find the way without him.”

“W-we?”, came the weak reply to that, and he could already see Asahi retreating back into the safety that was his room.

“Yes, _we_. You're coming, too. I promised to your mother I would pull you out of your nutshell of a room once a month, and I plan to keep that promise.”, Daichi answered in his most strict voice.

“Think positive; if you go today, I won't make you come along to the Halloween event.”, he bribed, knowing that Asahi would try to stay as far away from that party as possible, if he could.

And it seemed to work.

“O-okay. I'll go today.”, the glass-hearted giant eventually gave in and came out of his room to sit with Daichi while he ate.

“Good. That way, I can keep two promises.”, Daichi chuckled.

“Two?”

“Yep, two.”, he confirmed, remembering that he had promised Noya to bring Asahi along tonight.

The man would probably freak out when he saw Noya -for some unknown reason, Asahi was afraid of him- but Daichi didn't care. He was of the opinion that his childhood friend needed to be pulled out of his comfort zone more often -and Nishinoya was just the right man for that, considered his endless energy and upbeat personality.

A look of dread settled on Asahis face, however, when he heard Daichi affirm his question, and one could see how his mind began to overwork itself and made useless analysations, which resulted in Daichi outright laughing at him.

“Don't bother thinking about it. It won't harm you. -I hope.”, he grinned wickedly at his friend, not able to withstand the temptation of teasing him a little.

“Y-you hope?”

“Yeah. Now go get ready, you giant baby. We're leaving soon.”

“Huh? Didn't Bokuto-San say it wouldn't start before ten? It's only half past seven now.”

“Yes, he did say that. You do remember that Akaashi lives on the other side of town, though? We'll need about an hour to just get there.”

They arrived a little before ten, though.

“Hey, hey, hey! You're here! Great! Come in, come in!”, they were greeted by an extremely cheerful Bokuto-San and followed him into Akaashis flat.

It wasn't exactly big, but it was nice enough. Clean and comparably wider than their own. Daichi could understand why Bokuto spent most of his time at his boyfriends' place.

“Hello Sawamura-Kun, Azumane-San.”, Akaashi smiled at them when they walked by the kitchen, where he stood at the fridge.

“Hey Akaashi. Thanks for inviting us over today.”, Daichi thanked him and then pulled a still slightly pouting Asahi along into the living room.

They weren't the first ones to arrive and were given a warm welcome by the few people who already occupied Akaashis couch. He allowed them to pull him right into their middle, while Asahi escaped their grasp and settled for a spot at the corner of the group. Daichi let it slide, knowing that it wouldn't be much longer until Noya arrived. And then the shy giant would be tackled to the floor mercilessly. He was honestly looking forward to that, even though he had seen that spectacle a few times already. In the next minutes, the doorbell rang several times and slowly but surely the room filled with more and more people. Having a proper conversation wasn't possible at this point, since they'd be disturbed by a new round of “Hello”-s every other minute. Daichi was just talking to Bokuto, when it happened.

“Asahi-Saaaaan!”

A shout echoed through the room, then there was a surprised yelp and a loud 'thud', followed by a groan and Asahi fumbling for words.

“N-Noya-San? W-what are you doing here?”

The fact that he didn't even try to peel the smaller man from his form spoke of reluctant acceptance of that behaviour. Asahi knew that Nishinoya wouldn't let go of him unless he wanted to. And said one didn't care that all of the gathered people could see them, unlike Asahi.

“I was invited, _duh_.”, Noya dead-panned and Daichi and a few of the others chuckled at that.

They were all used to that show by now. And they were all rooting for the tiny energy-ball to finally get the man. Heck, Noya had been pinning for Asahi for longer than Daichi had his crush on Suga (and that actually lasted for more than half a year by now).

“Oh. O-okay.”

Daichi watched Asahi smile shyly before he tried to pick himself up from where he had crashed on the ground -courtesy of Noyas attack. It didn't work though, since the man still clung to him.

“Yeah. Besides, I wanted to see you! You never come by the coffee-shop anymore, recently.”, he pouted, ignoring Asahis vain attempt to get up and instead even snuggled up to him.

At that point Daichi lost interest in their conversation and instead concentrated on the others around him. Most of them were people he knew, some better, some not so well, but he didn't care.

“Didn't you say Kuroo was coming, too?”, he wanted to know from Bokuto, when he couldn't spot the notorious bedhead anywhere.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. He is. Texted me earlier that he'll be a little late. Apparently, his boyfriend caught a cold, so he's bringing someone else. I'm so curious! Aren't you? I wonder whom he's going to show up with!”

“Is that so? And I thought I'd finally get to see the guy that managed to get Kuroo to settle down!”, Daichi laughed and Bokuto joined in.

“Oh, you wouldn't believe it when you see him, though! When I first met Kenma-Kun, I thought Kuroo couldn't possibly be serious!”

Bokuto frowned when he remembered that particular episode.

“Well, he was, so I guess it's fine. Kenma-Kun is a nice guy. I'm not sure you'd like him, though.”

“Why is that?”

“He's quiet, Daichi, _really_ quiet. It's unsettling, honestly. I don't know how Kuroo fell for him, but he did!”, Bokuto shook his head and got up from his spot next to Daichi.

“Want a beer? I'll bring you some!”, he offered and Daichi found himself nodding in agreement.

Once in a while it would be fine to drink something. And as long as he didn't drink too much... It should be fine, really.

About half an hour later, the doorbell rang again and Akaashi went to open it, letting the last guests inside. Daichi knew Kuroo would be one of them, but he had to do a double take when he spotted a familiar silverish-blond head behind him. Sugawara-Kun. Daichi blinked in surprise. He didn't know Suga was friends with Bokuto and Akaashi. Though, probably just with Akaashi, since the moment the three of them entered the room, Bokuto leant over to Daichi, obviously wanting to ask a question.

“Hey, hey, hey, who is that gorgeous guy behind Kuroo? Do you know him? I didn't know Akaashi had such a good-looking friend!”

“Uh... yeah. Kind of. That's Sugawara Koushi, Kuroos best friend.”, Daichi informed him, not able to take his eyes off of Suga.

The blond wore a tight fitting pair of grey jeans (probably the same ones as the one he wore a few days earlier), a marine blue T-shirt and a not buttoned up cardigan.

“So this is him?! This is the guy you-”

At that point, Daichi thought it best to stop Bokuto from saying anything more by hurriedly pressing both his hands over the others' mouth.

“Sshht! Don't say that! Do you want to ruin me, Bokuto?!”, he hissed in the blonds ear and only released him after he received a short nod from his flatmate.

“Okay, okay. I won't say it! Calm down!”, Bokuto assured him and only now Daichi had time to fight the blush that had started to heat his face.

Once he was sure it was -mostly- gone, he accepted the words with a nod of his own.

“I can see why you're head over heels for him, though. He's beautiful.”, Bokuto mumbled now quietly into his ear, only for him to hear.

Daichi nodded yet again, noticing the awe that swung within his friends words. If he didn't know any better, he'd say Bokuto was temporarily smitten with Suga, too.

“Yeah...”, he gulped and wrung his hands. But it weren't just Sugas looks, that had him trapped; his personality, the aura surrounding him, the way he interacted with everyone around him -so basically _everything_ about the guy fascinated him. And there was nothing he could do about it. The people on the couch shuffled to make room for the latecomers and Kuroo plopped himself down between Daichi and Bokuto, what left Sugawara-Kun to the spot on the left of Daichi, on the armrest of the couch.

“Hey!”, he managed to greet both of them with a smile that thankfully didn't come across as nervous as he actually felt.

His crush just send him a court nod, while Kuroo tried to engage him in a conversation.

“Hello captain! I didn't know you'd be here, too!”

Daichi laughed, taking a sip from his beer, relaxing a little.

“Oh come on, Kuroo. Bokuto is my flatmate. Of course I'm here! It would be a shame if I weren't!”, he chuckled, shaking his head.

“Ah, right. I tend to forget that.”, Kuroo drawled and he nodded.

“Here, your beers.”, they were interrupted by Akaashi, who held out two cans of beer to Kuroo and Sugawara.

Both of them took the offered drinks with a grateful smile and then Kuroo immersed himself in a discussion with Bokuto, while Sugawara-Kun got up from his spot and followed Akaashi back to the kitchen, his beer in hand. That left Daichi temporarily alone, but he didn't care too much about that. He downed his beer, watching the other people interact with each other.

Noya was still clinging to Asahi, though by now they were no longer situated on the floor and Asahi seemed to be more relaxed, a can of beer in his hand. The smaller man was talking to him about something that apparently happened at the coffee-shop earlier today and the other listened to his chatter, while Kuroo and Bokuto were talking about volleyball strategies and games they had recently re-watched on the internet. Daichi listened to them for a while, before someone decided to turn on Akaashis sound system and play some obnoxiously loud (and lousy) pop-songs he didn't particularly like.

So he took his emptied can and went over to the kitchen, where he hound Sugawara-Kun, Akaashi and some girl he didn't know sitting at the table, quietly discussing something. He sent them a smile when they noticed him and spoke up only when they came to a stop in their discussion.

“I'm just here to get another beer. Don't mind me, go on.”, he shrugged and went over to the fridge to get himself a new beer.

He had figured that two or three cans of the beverage wouldn't harm him. Akaashi nodded to his words and then the girl started talking in a quiet but nice, calming voice.

“Suga. Are you sure? Absolutely a hundred percent sure that what you just said is true?”

Daichi couldn't help but perk up at and listen to what they were saying. Of course eavesdropping was a rude thing to do, but he could just take his beer and walk out into the hallway, couldn't he?

“Pretty much, yes. Shimizu-Chan, you know him, too. This is exactly how he would go about something like that! I can't believe the nerve of that guy!”, Suga answered the girls question, just as Daichi closed the fridge, a new can of beer in hand.

“I'm with Suga on that one, Shimizu-San. I may not know him as well as you two do, but I'm fairly sure he would act like that.”, Akaashi fell in.

“He's a scheming devil, _that damn cat!_ ”, Suga grumbled when Daichi left the kitchen.

If he had been wondering before whom the three of them were talking about; now he knew it. They were talking about Kuroo. He had heard Sugawara-Kun call his best friend 'cat' before, but now he was fairly certain that this nickname was a pretty much established reference for the guy and not only used by a few people but practically everyone who knew him. He wondered if he should keep listening.

“Oh come on, Suga. You knew that from the beginning.”, the girl chuckled, “And it's not like you're any better, sitting here and scheming with us!”

“Hey!”

Daichi could practically see Suga frown to that, even though he wasn't in the kitchen anymore. He smiled to himself and went back to the living room. Of course he was still curious as to what exactly this conversation was all about, but he felt that he had heard enough. For now, anyway.

The night went on pretty relaxed for him, though Kuroo started to nag him at some point -he was obviously drunk by then- and Daichi had a hard time to peel him off of him, but he somehow managed. After that, the number of drunk drunk people increased steadily and Daichi saw Sugawara-Kun escape to the balcony. He wasn't sure why the blond went there -it was cold outside and he couldn't remember Kuroo saying that Suga was a smoker- but he forgot about that soon enough, when Noya suddenly popped down next to him.

“Daichi! I've seen him! The guy you've got a crush on!”, the barista cheered, which made Daichi frown in return.

“It's the guy Kuroo showed up with, isn't it? You said they were friends! And he is blond and tall and lean! It has to be him!”, Noya blabbered on, obviously influenced by he alcohol he drank.

Daichi opted to better not say anything.

“You don't need to say anything! I got Asahi to tell me! I know everything!”, he chirped and Daichi bit his tongue.

Now, that was just great, wasn't it?

“But don't worry! I won't tell anyone! Oh, and I think you two would look really good together! I'm rooting for you!”

He sighed, hoping that Nishinoya meant what he said and would actually be able to remember it by tomorrow. Daichi didn't even try to fight his blush this time, too.

“Noya, I _dare_ you! If you let _anything_ about this matter _at all_ slip to Tanaka or anyone else, I swear, I'm personally going to murder you!”, Daichi grumbled -just for good measure- and got up from his spot on the couch.

He needed another beer.

“No worries, cap! I won't tell anyone, I promise!”, Noya called after him, while he was on his way to the kitchen already.

With his new beer in hand, he decided to get a breath of fresh air -knowing full well that he would meet Suga on the balcony. Well, probably, if the guy hadn't come back inside by now. But Daichi couldn't spot his blond hair in the living room between the other guests, so he must still be outside.

He opened the door and stepped outside, a gust of cold October air welcoming him. Taking a deep breath to clear his head, Daichi pulled the door close behind him.

“I hope you don't mind if I join you for a while?”, he asked the blond, who had been leaning on the balustrade with his elbows, looking at the night sky and only turned around when Daichi spoke up.

He couldn't miss the sceptic frown that settled on Sugawaras face for a second or two, before he eased it out of his features and nodded.

“Why not?”, he huffed, “Here's room enough for both of us.”

Daichi nodded.

“Thanks.”

“Hmhm.”, Suga hummed and went to face forward again, no longer paying attention to Daichi.

He mirrored Sugas stance, looking out into the night and taking an occasional sip from his beer. It was fine like this, really. He didn't need to talk to the blond, it was enough for him to just be here, in such close proximity to his crush. Without an awkward atmosphere between them. Daichi wondered when that had happened or if it was just the beer and everything would be back to normal by Monday.

“Aren't you cold?”, he eventually wondered, more to himself than actually asking a question.

But Sugawara-Kun answered nonetheless, after he contemplated for an answer for a few moments.

“Actually, yes. A little. But it's fine. I like it.”

The blond smiled, actually, honestly _smiled_ at him. And it took Daichis breath away. Of course he had seen that smile before, but having it directed at himself made it an entirely different experience. He fought the blush that threatened to make its way to his face and tried a shy smile of his own.

“Oh, okay.”

Okay? _Okay?!_ He couldn't have thought of any better answer, could he? Inwardly scolding himself for yet another idiocy he came up with while around the blond, Daichi bit his lower lip in distress. _How the hell was he going to get to know Suga, if he kept blundering around so much?!_ Surely he'd never get a chance with him, if he kept this up!

“Yup. How about you, though? A t-shirt? _You_ should be the one to feel cold!”

Suga kept their conversation going, much to Daichis surprise.

“Huh?”, he blinked, slightly confused and not sure if he had heard that right.

“I said you should be the one feeling cold, not me.”, the blond repeated.

“Oh? No, I'm not. I'm always warm.”, he shrugged.

“Ah, so you're one of those abnormal people who always have warm hands, no matter how cold it gets?”

“Guess so.”, he took a sip from his beer, thinking that it felt pretty normal to talk to Suga now.

More relaxed, at ease, now that he was over the first few awkward moments.

“I take it you're one of those guys who always have cold hands, then?”, he asked in an almost jokingly manner.

He didn't even expect to get an answer to that, not really, so he was taken by surprise when he heard Sugawara-Kun laugh quietly.

“No, not really. But it happens, sometimes.”, the blond shrugged, a smile still tugging at his lips and Daichi found himself returning the smile.

After that, they settle back into a comfortable silence, the music of the party inside a mere background noise, dimmed by the closed balcony door.  

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. This one's the longest chapter so far. 4,5k words (if the wordcount is correct), can you believe that?  
> (I didn't re-read and check this one for any mistakes yet, though. If you find any, please let me know!)  
> I have more planned for that party, but I'm not sure I will use everything... after all, there's still the Halloween event coming up for them~  
> Anyways, I hope you had fun reading the chapter! Please let me know what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanna say again:  
> I'm still looking for a beta for this fic! If you're interested, let me know in a comment or via ask on [my tumblr](http://ladycarathis.tumblr.com/).  
> Also, there's probably not many progress in this chap, but i had fun writing it. (5k words-yay! I'm getting better ^^)
> 
> Now, have fun reading!

After Kuroo had talked him into wearing that particular pair of jeans and a dark blue T-shirt to go with it, they had settled down at Sugas kitchen table. Well, Kuroo sat. Suga was up and about, putting his used dishes from earlier into the dishwasher and cleaning the sink from leftover breadcrumbs.

“So, have you decided if you're coming to practice again?”, Kuroo wanted to know, taking a sip from the drink Suga had provided him with earlier.

“I'm not sure. It was fun and everyone was really nice and all... but-”

Suga sighed. He wasn't sure ho to voice how he felt about the whole ordeal.

“Buuut?”, his friend urged him on.

“I don't know, Kuroo. I'm not sure.”

“Try it! Just say what you think. I won't rip your head off, you know that.”

The blond sighed again, leaning against the kitchens counter.

“I still feel on edge, I think. I didn't show it yesterday, because I didn't want to worry you and the others. But it's still there. The fear, I mean.”

Kuroo nodded.

“I wouldn't have expected it to vanish right away, either. Things like that need time. You can't just walk onto the court again as if nothing happened to you. That incident _happened_ to you, Suga. You shouldn't try to deny that. Accept it. Accept that this happened to you and that it's a part of you. Our experiences are what makes us who we are, whether we deny them or not. And accepting them means to accept yourself. And you should do that. Having something like that happen to you doesn't make you any less of a person, and if you're afraid, then accept that fear. Don't let it conquer you, but accept it and work with it. It will get better with time. I'm not saying it will go away or that it'll be like before, because it won't be, but it _will_ get better. You just have to hang on for now.”

Suga was silent for a long while after that, obviously thinking about what Kuroo just said. He was right, of course, Suga knew that. He knew he would have to face his fear every time he went to the gym to practice volleyball for the rest of his time at this university -if he joined the team or kept teaching the first-years, that is- and he knew it _should_ get better over time, but right now it was just so hard to accept that.

“I'll try, then.”, Suga eventually agreed to go to the next practice.

“One step at a time, right?”, he smiled at his best friend, who outright beamed at him.

“Great! That's what I wanted to hear! Now come on, drink something! We need to get into the mood for a party, after all!”

 

They arrived half an hour later than planned, thanks to Loki escaping from the flat when they wanted to leave for the first time. It took roughly 20 minutes and a lot of coaxing and treats to finally catch him and bring him back inside and Suga swore the cat did that on purpose. After all, it wasn't the first time they had to catch the devious cat, when they wanted to leave for a night out.

“Hey, Akaashi! Thanks for inviting us! I hope you don't mind I brought Suga instead of Kenma?”, Kuroo greeted their host for the night.

“No, not at all. It's fine. Bokuto-San already told me that you'll bring someone else since Kenma is sick. Come on in, you two. I'll bring you some beers, just get in there.”, Akaashi smiled and gestured for them to move on to his living room.

Suga followed half a step after Kuroo, taking in his surroundings. He hadn't been at Akaashis' before (there had never been a reason to come here before tonight), but he felt quite at ease. The flat seemed to be rather spacious and there were light colours on the walls and little furniture that could cramp up the place. He liked it. What he didn't like, was the person he spotted sitting on the far end of Akaashis' couch.

Sawamura Daichi.

Had Kuroo known the guy would be here and invited Suga because of that? Or was it merely a coincidence? Suga was about to ask his best friend about that, but Kuroo had already made his way over there and plopped himself down in between Sawamura-San and a guy he didn't know. Resigned, Suga opted for the last free spot -the place on the armrest next to Sawamura-San- and offered him a short nod in greeting to reply to the others' good natured “Hey!” He would need a beer or two -at least- to live through this night, he guessed. However, he had no chance to mull over that any longer, since at that moment Akaashi came over, two cans of beer in his outstretched hands. One was handed to Kuroo, the other the blond took himself. He exchanged a short look with Akaashi, who motioned for him to follow him and Suga decided that his night only could get better. Right? Right. Akaashi brought him to the kitchen, where he found Shimizu sitting at a small table.

“Shimizu-Chan! What a nice surprise!”, the blond smiled and bend down next to the girl to give her a peck on the cheek.

“Hello Suga. I didn't know you'd be here! Oh, wait. Let me guess -Kuroo?”, she chuckled, knowing of his reluctance to go to parties.

Suga pouted, being remembered of his previous suspicions.

“Yes. Kuroo”, he huffed and took a seat at the table, before he took a sip from his beer.

Akaashi sat down, too, and cocked his head to the side.

“What about him?”, he wanted to know, and Suga frowned.

Should he tell them of his suspicions? He thought about it for a moment, before he decided to not say anything too revealing for now.

“Ugh, well, I guess he's trying to set me up with someone and just wouldn't leave me alone.”

“Oh? Who is it? I'm sure Kuroo picked a good one for you, Suga. Why don't you go along with it? You know you can't stay a virgin forever!”, the girl winked at him.

The blond looked at the girl clearly horrified by her words.

“Oh hell no, Shimizu! I'd rather get old and wrinkly all by myself than go along with one of Kuroos ideas of whom I should be dating!”, he grumbled.

“Suga, really? You know that won't happen. _We won't let it happen._ ”, Shimizu pointed out an got a defeated sigh in return from her blond friend.

“So? Who're we talking about, anyway?”, Akaashi fell in, and the girl chimed in, too.

“Yes, who is he wanting to set you up with? If that person really is so horrible, I _might_ consider helping you talk Kuroo out of it!”

Suga furrowed his brows in thought. Should he really tell them? He had a feeling Shimizu wouldn't do what she said she would -under her cover of a nice, quiet girl, she was a devil, but since she rarely showed that side of her, no one would believe it- and Akaashi couldn't be of any help anyway, right?

“None of your business. Let's just say Kuroo insists on me being in the company of that person. It started a few days ago, and even though I told him not to do it and even threatened him, he keeps doing it! That person's here too, by the way. Though I can't say for sure if Kuroo knew about that or if today's just a coincidence. I wanted to ask him about it, but I haven't had the chance yet.”

“Oh? You're such a spoilsport, Suga! Just say it! Who is it?”, the girl in their round wanted to know.

“At least tell us if it's a boy or a girl! We can narrow it down from there, right, Akaashi-Kun?”

“I guess that would be a possibility. Suga?”

The blond huffed, leaning both his forearms in the table and staring his friends down. Well, he _tried to_.

“I hope you know that you're being pests right now, both of you!”, he complained and gulped down half of his beer.

When neither of them said anything to that and instead kept looking at him expectantly, he eventually gave in.

“Fine! I'll tell you. But only under the condition that you _absolutely under no circumstances whatsoever_ will involve yourselves in this matter _or_ try to help Kuroo _or_ that person, you hear me?”, he demanded.

Akaashi nodded instantly, not having planned to do so anyway, whereas Shimizu contemplated her options for a moment. After what seemed like hours -though it hadn't been more than a minute- passed, she nodded.

“Okay. I won't meddle unnecessarily.”, she agreed and Suga wasn't sure if he was supposed to be happy about that or not. He couldn't exactly tell if this was a good thing or not. Well, it was too late to back out now, anyway.

“Okay. Right... so, the person Kuroo is trying to set me up with is the captain of his volleyball club. Sawamura Daichi.”, the blond grumbled, trying to speak as silently as possible.

He didn't want that little information to leak out of their small round. Akaashi didn't look too surprised by that revelation and merely nodded, while Shimizu looked quite baffled.

“Sawamura-San? But you can't stand that guy, right?”, she remembered and Suga nodded.

“Exactly.”

“But... Kuroo knows that! Why would he want to set you up with a guy you don't like?”

“I have no idea, actually. He refused to tell me when I asked him about it.”, Suga pouted, visibly unhappy about that fact.

“Hm. Maybe he just thinks you two would make a good couple?”, Akaashi offered, a sly smile on his lips.

He wasn't exactly looking like it and one would barely expect him to do so, but the dark haired guy actually was pretty fond of teasing people, when he got the opportunity to do so. It was never anything severe, though. Akaashi never went over board with his teasing and always kept it playful, which was the only reason for Suga to smile in return. It turned out just a little sour.

“Must be it. He even made me promise to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. I can't believe I agreed to that! And now here I am, victim to yet another of his schemes! Can you believe it! I don't know how I could have not seen this earlier! I bet, Kenma isn't even that sick!”, Suga explained, but he stopped when the subject of their conversation suddenly entered the kitchen.

Their discussion came to a rather sudden stop, but Sawamura-San showed no signs of actually having heard or registered anything that had been said before he came in.

“I'm just here to get another beer. Don't mind me, go on.”, he said with a shrug and went to the fridge, after Akaashi gave him an affirming nod.

Suga eyed Sawamuras broad back warily, but Shimizu pulled his attention to her by asking him a question.

“Suga. Are you sure? Absolutely a hundred percent sure that what you just said is true?”, she wanted to know.

The blond didn't even need to think of his answer to that.

“Pretty much, yes. Shimizu-Chan, you know him, too. This is exactly how he would go about something like that! I can't believe the nerve of that guy!”

“I'm with Suga on that one, Shimizu-San. I may not know him as well as you two do, but I'm fairly sure he would act like that.”, Akaashi agreed, before Shimizu could even ask for his opinion.

Suga was just happy that neither of them mentioned a name right now. He didn't want Sawamura-San to know that he was -in a way- talking about him.

“He's a scheming devil, _that damn cat!_ ”, he grumbled when the intruder finally left the kitchen, a new beer in his hand.

“Oh come on, Suga. You knew that from the beginning.”, the girl chuckled, “And it's not like you're any better, sitting here and scheming with us!”, the girl chuckled and nudged him to his side with er elbow.

“Hey!”, the blond frowned, but he couldn't hide the smile tugging at his lips.

“It's true, though! Now, you have to admit: Sawamura-San _does_ look pretty darn hot. If I weren't with Hitoka-Chan, I wouldn't say no to him -if you know, what I mean, Sugar-Chan!”, Shimizu playfully winked at him.

“Shimizu!”, Suga barely suppressed an exasperated groan and just shook his head.

“She _does_ have a point, Sugawara-Kun. We both saw how you looked at his back just now. Don't try to hide it.”, Akaashi smiled, clearly siding with Shimizu now.

Suga frowned. How had he looked at Sawamuras back? He was sure he didn't look at it any differently than what he would when looking at anyone else's back. Shimizu laughed.

“You didn't notice, did you?”

Suga cocked his head to the side, wanting an answer.

“Well, you looked like you were actually considering him.”, Akaashi explained.

“What?!”

“Relax, Suga. He just stated the truth!”, Shimizu tried to calm him down, though to no avail and Akaashi had to help her out.

“Really, Suga. To think that there would be a day when you can't tell that I'm joking...”, he chuckled and offered Suga another beer, since the blond had just finished the first one.

“Akaashi, Shimizu! That was just mean! I can't believe it!”, the blond fumed under his breath, glaring at both of his friends.

“I hate you. Both of you. Never will I ever talk to you again after this!”, he threatened, knowing that he didn't really mean it, but wanting to say it anyway.

“I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. But, honestly Suga. Why don't you try to give Sawamura-Kun a chance? He really is a nice guy, and after the shit he's been though with his Ex he deserves someone better. Someone like you.”, Akaashi told him, completely serious.

Suga furrowed his brows in thought. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what this was all about and just shook his head, signalling to Akaashi that he should stop talking.

“Anyway! Suga, are you still planning to help me out with Hitoka-Chans surprise?”, Shimizu changed the subject, sensing that it would be better to distract her friend from his worries for a while.

He was sure to get back to them at some point tonight, anyway, and she knew that.

“Sure! Anything for Ya-Chan!”, Suga smiled, immersing himself completely into the new subject.

He stayed in the kitchen for the most part. People came and went, occasionally sitting with him at the table and talking to him. Kuroo came too, though he didn't stay for too long and always said he was just there to get another beer. Suga knew that he was going to knock himself out at this point and that he most likely would have to drag his best friend home, but he didn't care. He was used to that, one could say.

At some point, it got too cramped in the kitchen. More and more people came in, milling around and lingering, bringing the noise of the party from the living room to his little save haven that was the kitchen.

“Hey, Akaashi. I need some air. You don't have a balcony, by any chance?”, he asked, hoping that he wouldn't have to trudge down all the way from the fourth floor.

“I do. You can get there from the living room. But close the door when you're out. I don't want the flat to get cold.”

Suga nodded and made his way over, politely smiling at the people he passed.

It was cold on the balcony and he welcomed the shiver that went down his spine with a content sigh. The night was clear and he could see the stars up in the sky, which gave him the feeling of home, somehow. Back at his parents' he had spent nights like this outside, lying on the cold ground of their backyard, gazing at the stars and the sky. Here in the city doing that was nigh impossible. Usually there was too much light coming from street lights, cars, neon advertises and the like, blending out the night sky. So he appreciated the view he got to see from Akaashis balcony, knowing he wouldn't have the chance to see the sky like this anytime soon again.

He leant on the balustrade, making himself comfortable an taking deep breaths of the crisp October air. Whenever he breathed out, little white clouds would appear in front of his face and he knew it was most likely a few degrees minus Celsius. He didn't care though, and let his thoughts wander. It wasn't long before the door of the balcony opened again and Suga heard someone else joining him in the cold night. He could hear the person take a deep breath, just like he had done when he stepped outside and there was a question.

Having a vague feeling of who it was who joined him, he turned to look at the intruder of his little hideout. For a moment, he looked like he would like nothing more than to chase that guy back inside and to be left alone in this starry night, but he remembered Kuroos words, and even though he knew his best friend would probably never know of this little episode if he didn't tell him, he still felt obliged. Somehow. Ultimately, after mulling about his possibilities for a second or two, he gave in.

“Why not? Here's room enough for both of us.”, he agreed and turned back to looking at the sky after he had acknowledged Sawamura-Sans “Thanks.” with a little hum.

Suga thought that they would be silent after that, not intrude and disturb each others thoughts, and for a while, that seemed to work just fine. But then the dark haired guy spoke up.

“Aren't you cold?”, he wanted to know, though Suga wasn't sure if that was actually a question directed at him or just general wondering on Sawamuras' part.

He turned to look at him when he decided to give him an answer.

“Actually, yes. A little. But it's fine. I like it.”, the blond revealed his like for the cold air (and cold weather in general) with a sincere smile tugging at his lips.

He still didn't really like the guy, but he wasn't one to be unnecessarily mean, too, so he decided to at least be polite and keep their conversation going for a little while. Of course, he would later blame it on the several beers he had drank throughout the night, and a voice in his head that sounded a lot like Kuroo, reminding him of his promise -but for now he felt quite confident, at ease, even, while in Sawamuras company. Talking to the guy was surprisingly easy, too. He was easy to be flustered and teased and a little nervous, Suga noticed. That is, if the way he swirled his beer around in his can was anything to go by and Suga found himself surprised when he found himself laughing at one of Sawamuras remarks, thinking that maybe _-maybe-_ this guy wasn't so bad after all. But he quickly dismissed this thought again and instead wrapped himself in silence, with Sawamura doing the same. After a while, Sugas phone rang with an incoming message.

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 01:17

Subject: home

Text: couldnt find u anywhere? went home with some other guys

 

 

Suga frowned. What was that about? Kuroo usually never left a party, and lest of all, without Suga in tow. Something was up.

 

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 01:19

Subject: home

Text: I've been on the balcony, idiot! Didn't you check properly?!

 

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 01:22

Subject: home

Text: i did! u wrnt there!

 

 

The blond shook his head in disbelieve and put his phone back into the pocket of his jeans.

“I can't believe it!”, he muttered under his breath when he leant his back to the balustrade, contemplating.

Kuroo had left, as had Shimizu-Chan over an hour ago, so there was nothing holding him here at this party any longer, right? He could leave now and go home, get his much needed sleep and then write that last part of that essay without any troubles. Another ringing sound caught his attention then, and he looked at his companion, who was now fishing for his own phone, it seemed. Suga had no way of knowing what kind of text Sawamura-San just got, but if the look on his face was anything to go by, he would say it wasn't anything to be happy about.

“Everything okay?”, he asked, before he could even stop himself.

“Huh?”, Sawamura-San blinked, surprised, “Oh! Uhm, yeah. More or less. I just learnt that my flatmate left without me to crash at a friends place, since the last train left an hour ago and the next isn't coming before 5am.”

Suga furrowed his brows in thought. He would bet his right arm that Kuroo had something to do with this. The guy knew Suga was one to always help people, even if he didn't particularly like them. He wasn't even surprised by his own words, once they left his lips.

“You can crush at my place, if you want to. It's not that far away from the station.”, he offered and marvelled at the shocked look he got from Sawamura.

“What? I mean -yes, that would be great! But -is it really okay? I mean, I'm not an idiot. I can tell you don't exactly like me. I guess... I can't see why you're offering this?”, he rambled, obviously getting more and more flustered with every word that left his mouth and a huge blush forming on his cheeks that Suga _couldn't_ possibly _not_ notice.

The blond laughed. Loud and free.

“While it is true that I don't particularly like you, as you just pointed out, I am not a complete asshole, either. I mean it. You can crush at my place. That is, unless you are allergic to cats?”, Suga confirmed, still chuckling a little.

“Ah? No, it's fine. I'm not allergic to them.”, Sawamura answered, still blushing, and Suga nodded.

“Then it's settled.”

“Yeah.”

They were silent for a while after that, and then Sawamura went inside again, saying that he wanted to get another beer and talk to Bokuto before he actually left. Suga just nodded, agreeing to that and stayed on the balcony a little longer. It was not until his hands actually started to feel numb from the cold that he went back inside to warm himself up. He wasn't surprised to find living room mostly deserted, though the music was still playing and a few people sat together, chatting quietly. Suga didn't know them, so he didn't bother listening or even joining their conversation and instead went to the kitchen, where he found Akaashi, Sawamura-San and a guy he didn't know, but he figured that this had to be that Bokuto-guy Sawamura had mentioned earlier.

“Suga! I thought you had left already!”, Akaashi greeted him.

“Ah, no. I was on the balcony until just now. Kuroo dumped me though, because he couldn't me earlier. Do you by any chance know with whom he left?”, he asked his friend.

“Oh, I know!”, the person he presumed to be Bokuto chimed in, “He left with Asahi-San and Nishinoya-San!”

“Oh, really? Thanks.”

“What?!”, Sawamura blurted at the same time, and it didn't take much effort for Suga to put one and two together.

Kuroo had left with Sawamuras flatmate, apparently. Which confirmed his earlier suspicion. He shot Akaashi a look, and the guy looked as surprised as Suga felt.

“See?!”, the blond mouthed to his friend, who nodded in agreement.

“I can't believe it!”, Suga heard Sawamura grumble.

He must have seen through that set up by now, too.

“Me neither.”, he grumbled, agreeing to him.

“What's going on? Talk to me!”, Bokuto wanted to know, but Sawamura shook his head, denying him an answer.

The guy whined, but neither of the three wanted to explain and eventually Sawamura finished his beer.

“So, I guess we can go now?”, he offered to Suga, who just nodded.

They left shortly after and the walk to Sugas flat was spent in silence, both of them caught up in their own thoughts. Suga was going to murder Kuroo the next time he saw his best friend, he swore. What did the guy think he was doing? Did he even think at all?! Suga wasn't so sure and huffed, still irritated.

“You know, I can just walk home. You don't have to let me stay over.”, Sawamura-Kun said quietly, but Suga could feel the suppressed anger in his voice.

“I know. But as I said before, I'm not an asshole, so you can stay. It wouldn't be right to let you walk home in this cold weather, anyway. Even if you are practically a human heater.”

“O-okay? But I still don't understand why you do this. I mean, you should at least be angry, but you don't seem to be at all.”

“Oh believe me, _I am_ pretty pissed right now. But it's no use to let this out on you. 'sides, you're as much a victim in this as I am, so I would be an idiot if I got mad at you.”, Suga explained, looking at the guy walking next to him for the first time since they left Akaashis party.

“That's true. We should probably plan something to get back at that damn trashcat, then. He deserves it.”, Sawamura offered, sounding more relaxed now, even laughing a little at his own idea.

And Suga? He couldn't help a small smile tugging at his lips, despite him still being angry at Kuroo.

“Sounds good to me. We should totally do that.”, he agreed eventually.

He'd do (almost) anything to get back at his best friend, and if he had to team up with Sawamura-Kun to do it, then so be it. He wasn't that picky, and it's not like he had any other options right now, anyway.

“Great.”, the guy smiled when Suga agreed to his suggestion.

Soon after, they arrived at Sugas flat, both cold and with running noses from the cold breeze.

“Do you want a tea or something before you go to bed or take a shower?”, Suga questioned, miming the ever-polite host.

“A tea would be nice, actually. I think the shower can wait until tomorrow, though. I'm beat.”

The blond nodded and toed his shoes off, gesturing to his guest to do the same and then follow him to the kitchen. Sawamura-Kun sat down at the table, while Suga went about preparing the tea.

“I don't have an extra futon, but the couch is quite comfortable, I've been told. I hope you don't mind?”

“Nah, it's fine. I'm glad that you let me stay at all, after that shit Kuroo pulled.”

“Hmhm.”, Suga nodded, not sure to what he agreed with that -the fact of letting Sawamura stay or that Kuroo had indeed outdone himself tonight.

In the end, it didn't matter. Suga placed a mug of steaming hot tea in front of his guest and then sat down at the other side of the table.

“Thanks.”, Sawamura smiled, only to look surprised to a spot to his left, where he felt the prick of claws through his jeans.

He made a surprised noise, and before he could do anything else, the white cat had made itself comfortable on his lap.

“Huh?”, he just blinked down at the animal, confused.

Suga looked quite similar at that sight. Usually Loki wasn't fond of strangers in his home and stayed away from them, not come out of his hiding spot and roll himself into a purring ball of white fur in their laps. The two exchanged equally perplexed looks and Suga shrugged, before Sawamura-Kun could say anything.

“This is new. Loki usually never likes strangers and stays away from them. If you don't like it, just put him down, though.”

Sawamura just nodded, showing he understood, but he didn't make a move to shove the still purring cat away. Instead, he settled one hand onto its head and started petting it. The purring grew louder and Suga couldn't do anything but shake his head in disbelieve, while he took a sip from his tea.

“I can't believe this is actually happening...”, he mumbled, and Sawamura chuckled.

“Oh come on, it's not that bad, is it?”

“No. That just means I know who to call now when I need to take that devil to the vets.”, Suga grinned at a taken aback Sawamura.

“Eh? But you don't have my number!”

Now Suga was outright laughing -this was ridiculous.

“Really, Sawamura? Don't you think Kuroo would gladly tell me, after what he pulled tonight?”, he managed to wheeze out between fits of giggles.

At that, his guest laughed, too.

“You're probably right. Better accept my fate then, I guess?”

The blond nodded.

“You better do. Now, how are we going to repay that jerk?”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i should probably tell you that suga is only nice to daichi because of the alcohol he's had that night, but that would be a lie. xD *cough*  
> Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! I love reading and replying to comments, they make my day every time i get one! :3
> 
> also, the next update may take a while (probably about two weeks from now, so around the 18th) since i want to get back to my other fic for Kagehina for now and i need to figure out a schedule to work on both fics equally, i guess êe


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first, I would like to thank the wonderful [Apple-Paper](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Apple_Paper) for checking this thing for any mistakes <3  
> You are a wonderful person, thank you for putting up with my inability! :3

He was brought back to reality by the ring of a phone. He was just about to reach for it, when he realized it wasn't his phone, but Sugawara-Kun’s. Cocking his head to the side, he watched the blond tapping a message into the device while he frowned. Daichi wondered what that was about, but he didn't ask, figuring he should leave Suga alone for now. Only his own phone rang -this time for sure- a few minutes later, and he scanned the text message that he just received, he had a look at Sugawara again.

 

From: Nishinoya

Subject: Asahi

Text: Hey there, cap! I'm taking Asahi-san and ur teammate with the bedhead back to my place! U need to find some other place to crash at! Sorry, but we couldn't find u earlier!

 

He didn't even bother with an answer and just glared at the message for a few seconds before he put the device back into his pocket.

“Everything okay?”

Daichi blinked, surprised.

“Huh?” he managed a brilliant answer, but thankfully caught himself in time by giving himself a mental whiplash.

“Oh! Uhm, yeah. More or less. I just learnt that my flatmate left without me to crash at a friends place since the last train left an hour ago and the next isn't coming before 5am.” he explained to the blond, fighting a sullen look from appearing on his features.

To his surprise, after Suga thought about his words for a while, he _actually_ invited Daichi to stay over at his place. Which had the blood rush to his ears and face. He was bewildered; he hadn't thought Sugawara would ever, not in a million years, offer him to crash at his place. This was too good to be true, right? Daichi really wanted to pinch himself to see if he was actually dreaming, but there was no way for him to do that secretly. So he settled for going along with this probably-just-a-dream-thing, thinking he would surely find a moment to pinch himself later. And, if he was being completely honest, he actually wanted this dream to last a little longer. Spending more time with Suga sure appealed to him, which is why he stammered out an answer where he agreed to the opportunity given to him. And blushed unceremoniously at the same time. There was no way Sugawara-Kun wouldn't notice it, so he didn't even try to fight it, this time. He just hoped he wouldn't be made fun of or teased since he was sure that would be the end of him.

Luckily, none of that happened and the blond laughed instead. Not at him exactly, but at his choice of words, apparently. Daichi couldn't get enough of that sound, he thought. So he waited patiently until Suga had calmed down considerably before he answered the blond’s question of being allergic to cats.

“Ah? No, it's fine. I'm not allergic to them.”

He managed to smile a little though still concerned about the blush on his cheeks.

“Then it's settled,” the blond confirmed with a nod and Daichi agreed.

“Yeah.”

Another silent period stretched between them after that, but it didn't feel uncomfortable to Daichi. Occasionally he sipped at his beer while he mirrored Suga's position, looking out at the night sky and letting his thoughts wander a little, before he mumbled that he was going back inside to get another beer and talk to a friend before they left. With a nod, Suga showed that he had understood him and then Daichi left the balcony.

About half an hour later he and Suga left Akaashi's and made the walk over to the blond’s flat. It wasn't that far away from the station, just like Suga had said, and they made their way over in less than twenty minutes. Which was, according to the blond, quite a while, actually, but he figured that they took so long because of the frost that had covered most of the sidewalks and had turned all the puddles into possible death-traps. Neither of them wanted to slip on the ice, so they walked slowly. They didn't talk much, but that was okay with Daichi. And after he had confirmed that Suga wasn't angry with him, but at the idiot scheming Trashcat who had set them up, he felt a little better about the whole ordeal. Of course, it wasn't exactly how he had imagined his first visit to Sugawara's flat, but he'll deal with it. He wasn't even surprised when the blond ushered him inside and he was greeted by light, warm colours on the walls and an overall inviting atmosphere.

The flat was quite small, only one bedroom, a living area, a tiny kitchen and a bathroom, from what he could tell, but if Daichi was honest with himself, he felt right at home. The place was cluttered with little things, cat toys and books of all kinds, but it didn't look messy. More like someone actually lived here. He liked it and nodded to himself while he followed Suga into the kitchen. Taking a seat at the table, he let the thought of being at Suga's home sink in, and when the blond turned around to prepare the tea he had offered, Daichi pinched himself, deeming it safe to do so now.

It hurt. Quite a lot, actually. So it wasn't just a dream, as he had feared earlier. He tried to relax a little when the blond placed a cup of tea in front of him. He was just about to blow on the hot beverage to cool it off a little, when he felt the prick of claws through his jeans. A surprised sound left his lips, but before he could do anything else, the white cat had made itself comfortable on his lap already.

“Huh?” he just blinked down at the animal, confused.

Wondering what to make of that, he looked over at Suga, who looked as puzzled as Daichi felt.

“This is new, Loki usually never likes strangers and stays away from them,” the blond said before he could even so much as utter a word, “If you don't like it, just put him down, though.”

He nodded, thoughtfully looking down at the cat that had curled itself in his lap. And before he knew it, his hand was already petting the animal’s soft fur, drawing a loud purring from it. Apparently, the feline liked the treatment, so Daichi kept his hand on it’s head and scratched the cat behind the ears.

“I can't believe this is actually happening...” he heard Sugawara murmur and couldn't help but chuckle.

Maybe it was because of all the alcohol he drank before, but right now he didn't care about the fact that Suga didn't really like him and merely tolerated him in his home because there was no other way.

“Oh, come on, it's not that bad, is it?”

“No, that just means I know who to call now when I need to take that devil to the vet.” the blond grinned, infected by Daichi's chuckles.

He wasn't sure if Suga was just joking, though.

“Eh? But you don't have my number!” he exclaimed.

And Sugawara laughed and shook his head in the same moment.

“Really, Sawamura? Don't you think Kuroo would gladly tell me, after what he pulled tonight?” the blond managed to wheeze out between fits of laughter and Daichi barked out a laugh, too.

Suga had a point.

“You're probably right. Better accept my fate then, I guess?”

The blond nodded.

“You better. Now, how are we going to repay that jerk?”

If he didn't know any better, he would have thought Suga was actually flirting with him. But that was impossible, wasn't it? The blond wouldn't do that! He didn't even like Daichi to begin with, so why would he? The only reason that would explain Suga's behavior was that he drank a little too much beer that evening. Though he didn't actually look like it, he hadn't even swayed at all when they had walked here, unlike Daichi, who had. He sighed. It was useless to think about those things right now. He should just concentrate on the matter at hand and hope that he got to stay in Sugawara’s company for a little while longer. Blowing on his tea again, he shrugged.

“I don't know. You're his best friend, aren't you? You should know him better than I do.” he offered.

“But it was your idea,” the blond scrunched up his face in thought.

“I know. It doesn't change the fact that you know him better, though. So?”

Suga sighed.

“Let me think about it for a moment,” he huffed and Daichi nodded, opting to concentrate on patting the cat in his lap.

He wasn't sure why, but the white fur ball had a calming effect on his nerves. Not that he'd been particularly nervous or anything, but the constant purr in his ears managed to drown out the thoughts that kept popping up in his mind. While he patiently waited for Suga to gather his thoughts, he alternated between looking at the cat to the blond, just to see that Suga was lost deep in thought. He must be seriously thinking about it, Daichi decided, not minding the silence between them.

“God, why is this so hard?” Suga finally muttered, “That guy isn't fazed easily and I don't know if he's actually afraid of anything! Ugh, there has to be _something_!”

The blond frowned, displeased with himself.

“That's true, he's a hard nut to crack. Do you know anyone who would be willing to help us out?” Daichi wondered and Sugawara’s eyes lit up.

“Oh my god! That's it! Sawamura, you are a genius!”

The toothy smile directed at him left him breathless, unable to speak, so he just cocked his head to the side, signaling for Suga to explain of what he just thought.

 

“Oh my god, you're evil, Sugawara-Kun!” Daichi grinned when the blond had finished mapping out his plan, “I swear, if that works he's never going to do something like today ever again!”

He laughed, Suga's pleased chuckling joining him.

Their tea was long forgotten, in favour of planning Kuroo's demise, but Daichi couldn't care less.

“That's the point, isn't it?” the blond eventually agreed, stifling a yawn.

“Indeed. I won't even be sorry for him. Oh, also remind me to never get on your bad side, will you?”

Suga grinned, mischief shining in his eyes.

“Maybe, if I don't forget it!”

“Sugawara!”

“I make no promises I can't keep, Sawamura-San!”

Both of them laughed though now Daichi wasn't so sure if he could trust Suga at all.

“So, now that that's out of the way, we should get some sleep. I think I have a shirt and sweats that would suit you. You're not that much bigger than me,” the blond offered and suddenly Daichi's mouth felt dry.

Was it okay for him to wear Sugawara’s clothes? He probably should, if he didn't want to have wrinkles in his own clothes tomorrow, he presumed.

“Yeah, sounds good to me. I could use some sleep.” he eventually nodded.

“Okay, the living room is just down he hall, you can't miss it. Oh, and maybe you should put Loki down before you get up. Unless you want some ugly claw marks on your thighs?” the blond advised him when he noticed Daichi was about to get up, the white fur ball in his lap completely forgotten.

Daichi flushed, but managed a nod.

“Yeah, I guess so?” he mumbled and carefully pried the protesting cat off of him.

When he sat Loki down on the kitchen floor, Suga had already left, most likely to get the promised clothes for him. Daichi tried to fight the small smile on his lips and thought it may be a good idea to put their cups into the dishwasher. That way they wouldn't get risked to be attacked by the cats, right? Of course, he didn't know if or how lively they were, but he didn't want to take his chances. While he went about the small task, Loki followed him on his heels. It was rather cute, actually, and Daichi would bet that the cat was only waiting for him to sit down again, so it could hop back on his lap. After he finished, he headed down the hall, just as Suga had said, to get to the living room, where he would be sleeping. Seconds later the blond joined him, handing him a pile of nicely folded clothes.

“These should fit you. If you need anything else, just say it. The bathroom is next to the kitchen if you need it.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Daichi nodded, accepting the clothes.

He would change into them when Suga left.

“No big deal. Oh, right. Usually I leave the doors open for the cats, but if you don't want them to bother you, you can close it.”

“It's fine. I'm sure I won't be bothered by them.”

“Okay.”

“Yes.”

“Ah, I should probably bring you a blanket and some pillows, right?” Suga smiled almost sheepishly as if he hadn't thought about that before.

“That would be great!” Daichi nodded again and watched Suga leave the room again.

He came back not a minute later, his arms laden with a pile of pillows and the blanket he had promised. Dumping them on the couch -Daichi even made out some covers for the couch in that heap- the blond nodded at him.

“There you go. I suppose you can make your bed yourself, right? If so, I'll go to bed now. Have a good night, Sawamura-san.” he wished Daichi and ducked out of the room again, not waiting for a reply.

The next morning Daichi was woken by the smell of coffee and croissants. He took a deep breath and wanted to follow that delicious smell to where it came from, but he found that he couldn't. He groaned and blinked, trying to pry his eyes open to see why he couldn't move and get up.

“Loki...” he mumbled when he spotted that the white cat had curled up on his chest.

He sighed. Great. That meant he had to stay put until the feline decided to get up, right? Daichi rubbed at his eyes and looked at the ceiling since there wasn't anything else to do for him right now. Unless Suga came in and shooed the cat away, that is. But he doubted that would happen anytime soon. Sure, he could smell breakfast, but he figured the blond wouldn't come to wake him up. Or maybe he would, to boot him out of his apartment without even a bite to eat. Not that this was a very likely scenario, but the possibility was still there. He groaned again, not exactly happy with the situation he was in. A short time later he hears a knock on the doorframe, though.

“Sawamura-san? Are you up yet?” he heard Suga ask in a low voice, probably thinking that Daichi suffered from a hangover and thus had a major headache.

Daichi pried his eyes from the ceiling and turned his head to look at the blond.

“Yeah, I'm up. More or less, that is,” he motioned to the white fur ball on his chest.

Suga’s eyes widened in surprise.

“There he is! I wondered where he had run off to earlier...” he mumbled, stepping into the room.

“Uhm... would you mind? I mean, uhm, to take him up?” Daichi fumbled for words, not sure how to ask the blond to come near him and safe him from his cat.

“Ah! Sure!” Suga smiled and came over to him.

Without much of a fuss, he took the protesting cat by the neck and pried it off of his guest. Daichi sat up immediately to prevent the cat to jump up on him again.

“Thanks,” he nodded.

“No problem. Now, do you think you're able to eat something or do you need some painkillers first?”

“No need for painkillers. I'm fine,” Daichi smiled, “But something to eat would be great. Are those croissants and coffee that I smelled earlier?”

“Yes, they are. I had a feeling coffee would be a good idea to get us both up and running,” Suga grinned and left the room, Daichi following him shortly after.

While they ate they were silent, just concentrating on their food and trying to whisk away every rest of tiredness from their minds and bodies.

“You can take a shower if you want to, by the way. I already put out a towel for you,” Sugawara offered when they where done and he started to clear the table from the remnants of their meal.

“Thank you, that'd be great,” Daichi nodded and shuffled back to the living room to get his clothes.

After his shower, he found Suga sitting at the kitchen table, his laptop open and typing away on it rather furiously. He didn't even notice Daichi at first.

“Hey, everything okay? You look stressed all of a sudden,” he spoke up, trying to get the blond's attention.

Suga stilled, blinking confused.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Seems like there was some case of black ice last night. Most of the public transport isn't working. Your train included.” the blond sighed, “I was looking up other ways to get you home, but other than a taxi or walking there I see no options.”

Daichis face fell. He couldn't get home? Now that was just great! Because, as much as he liked the idea to stay over at Suga's again, he couldn't possibly impose on him for another night, could he?

“And what now? I don't have the money on me to pay that taxi.”

He took a look outside the window.

“And walking in that weather isn't exactly a great idea, either,” Daichi sighed, rubbing his hand over his face in distress.

“I know, and the weather report even said there was going to be a storm later today. There is no way I'll let you walk through that.” Sugawara frowned, looking out of the window himself.

Dark storm clouds already hung in the sky, blocking out every bit of sunlight. And it was barely noon. Even the wind had picked up since last night.

“So that means I'm staying another night?” Daichi guessed, muttering under his breath.

He didn't want to assume things, but what other option was there?

“Yeah, seems like it,” Suga sighed, closing his laptop and looking at Daichi now.

“I just hope for you that you finished all your coursework yesterday. You can't do anything here.”

“Oh, yes. I guess I'm done. I wanted to rehearse some stuff for Ukai's course, but that's impossible now, isn't it?” Daichi frowned and leant on the chair back opposite from Suga.

“Hmm. There really isn't much for you to do around here. I still need to write that resume for Take-Chan’s essay, so I won't be very good company until that is done. All I can offer you is my TV and my DVD collection.” the blond shrugged.

“That's still better than nothing, I suppose,” Daichi nodded.

“Thought so,” Suga agreed and got up.

In the living room, he opened a cabinet and revealed a whole load of DVDs to Daichi.

“Pick whichever you like. Here's the remote.”

The blond handed the device to him.

“You just need to switch to HDMI-2, then the DVD screen should show up.”

“Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

Daichi smiled and busied himself with looking through Suga’s quite impressive collection of films. They weren't sorted -at least not in a way Daichi would have noticed- and ranged from action to horror to romance and back. He even found a few western series and sitcoms in between (all in English, apparently), as well as anime.

In the end, he went for Spirited Away. It was one of the movies he could watch again and again and not get tired of. Besides, this film in particular had accompanied him throughout his whole life and woke some memories for him. He smiled when he thought of those and made himself comfortable on Suga’s couch. It didn't take long and Loki came strolling into the room and up to him, prancing across the couch and ultimately occupying his lap again. With a surrendering sigh, he went to pet the feline’s fur, drawing continued purring from him while he trained his eyes on the movie he had decided on.

Soon he was only concentrating on Chihiro's poor fate and practically forgot his surroundings entirely. Only when he felt the couch dip down near the end of the film, he looked up. He found his favourite blond sitting down next to him, handing him a cup of hot chocolate with a small smile on his lips.

“Spirited Away, huh? I hadn't pegged you for a guy who likes anime.”

Daichi nodded, accepting the offered beverage.

“Actually, it's my favourite. I grew up with this one. I think I could prompt the whole thing if I wanted to.” he chuckled and breathed in the smell of the hot drink.

It smelled almost sickeningly sweet and when he stirred it, it looked almost syrupy though it was just milk with a lot of cocoa powder. Normally, Daichi didn't have much of a sweet tooth, but every once in a while he could appreciate it. So he kept stirring his drink and waited for it to cool off a little.

“Really? Me too! Let's try it! You're Chihiro and I'm Zeniba! Oh, it's your turn!”

Suga seemed to be absolutely elated by that idea and put his cup down on the coffee table, eyes trained on the movie. Daichi looked baffled. He would've never expected such behavior from Suga. But he didn't mean to say that he didn't like it. It was a nice surprise.

“O-okay?” he eventually agreed and looked back at the scene where he had to jump in.

“Couldn't you at least give me a small hint? Somehow, I have the feeling I've met Haku before,” he said, completely in synch with Chihiro.

“Then it would be easy,” Suga followed Zeniba's words, “If your paths have crossed before, you'll never forget. Though it might happen that you won't be able to remember it.”

He looked up from the screen, probably to prove his point since he spoke the next lines while looking at Daichi.

“It's late, you should rest for a while. And the other can come help me.”

He even got Zeniba's laugh right, and Daichi noticed yet again, that Suga was indeed _perfect_.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the ride and will be back for more! I'm not sure when the next update will be, but I think I'll manage one chapter every two weeks from now on. It's not so stressfull and I have time to think of other things, too :)
> 
> Also, I did make some art for this fic myself. It may not be anything special, but still.  
> [You can check it out here.](http://ladycarathis.tumblr.com/)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _-Edit-_  
>  _I just uploaded the beta-d version, so everything should be fine now. All the mistakes I made should be gone :D_  
>   
>  First things first:  
> 1) This version is still UNBETA-D, so you are likely to find a few mistakes. I will update it once my beta gets around to it. As for now, I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for any longer, so I'm willing to share the unbeta-d version with you as an apology for the long wait!  
> 2) I'm really sorry I've kept you waiting for over a month, but things were really busy for me and I'm pretty sure they'll be for a while longer, so I probably won't be able to update regularly for a while. I apologize in advance and I hope things will settle down again soon.  
> 3) WOW! 100+ Kudos! Just what did you guys do while I was away?! This is so awesome! Thank you! *throws hugs and kisses everywhere* 
> 
> Now, have fun reading!

To his surprise, Sawamura seemed to not have the slightest idea on how to get back at Kuroo, even though he was the one to come up with that plan in the first place. Suga furrowed his brows, as the brunette said that he was the one knowing Kuroo best, since they were best friends and all.

“But it was your idea.” he pointed out.

“I know. It doesn't change the fact that you know him better, though. So?” the other shrugged, looking expectantly at him.

Suga sighed. Fine. He would think about it. It's not like there was anything else he could do right now, anyway. Sawamura didn't seem to plan on helping him much, though.

“Let me think about it for a moment.” he finally huffed and then immersed himself in the given task.

He caught Sawamura's nod, but he didn't pay much attention to him after that. Loki's purring -the cat had made its way back onto the other's lap, only to be patted again- helped him reach that state of mind were he was deep in thought. He mulled over everything and anything he knew about his best friend -his fears and anxieties, his hopes and wishes. He couldn't find an answer though. Kuroo didn't seem to have any flaws, or, well, those that he had could hardly be used to play a trick on him that would teach him a lesson.

“God, why is this so hard?” the blond finally muttered under his breath, giving up.

He couldn't come up with anything! He pointed his thoughts out to his guest, only to be surprised by him yet again when the other directed his thoughts in the right direction. In a split second a plan began forming in his head and the blond cried out.

“Oh my god! That's it! Sawamura, you are a genius!”

Suga outright smirked as the idea in his head took form and became something that he was sure would get Kuroo to stop his plans of setting them up. Without haste he filled Sawamura in, and in the end they both were content and looking forward for when they would carry out their plan. Of course at first they would have to ask a few people to take part in it, but it shouldn't be too hard to blackmail them into cooperating.

After that they quickly went to bed -it was past three in the morning by now and they were both dead tired. Suga almost forgot to give his guest his bedding because of it. Being tired did that to him. He forgot important things. He was just happy that he remembered their plan the next morning when he woke up.

 

He checked the living room after he took a shower and dressed himself in loosely fitting, grey sweatpants and a baggy pullover that was two sizes too big for his slender frame.

Today, he didn't care how he looked. Kuroo wasn't there to reprimand him and since he wouldn't be leaving his apartment today he thought it would be fine. Besides, he didn't care if Sawamura would think of him as a slob. Maybe that would help him to somehow convince Kuroo that he a Sawamura weren't a good match if the other kept away from him out of his own accord. At least it was worth a try, right?

The blinds were still down when he peered inside, the only light coming from the hallway were he stood, when he peered inside. He could only make out Sawamura's brown locks peeking out between the blankets and pillows he had given him. The guy had his back to the room, facing the backrest of the couch, on top of which Loki resided. Obviously, the guy and the cat were both still sleeping. That devil of a cat seemed to have taken a liking to his guest, though Suga couldn't for the life of him figure out why or how that happened. The white cat hardly liked anyone. He shunned even Kenma and Kuroo, who were both the absolute cat-dads.

Suga decided he would let the guy sleep a little longer, since that would probably help with the hangover he was sure the other would have to deal with once he woke. He could remember clearly how last night on their way back to Suga’s place Sawamura had been swaying quite a bit while walking. His mind had seemed to be clear at all times, but it was still obvious that he had been drinking alcohol.

The blond sauntered over to the kitchen, cleaned up the remainders of last night's planning-session (he only then noticed that Sawamura must have moved their mugs from the table to the sink before he went to the living room last night, bless him) and thought about what he should make for breakfast. Nothing too heavy, that was for sure. He didn't want to have his guest throwing up in his flat. Rummaging through his albeit small storage of food that he kept for cases like this, he found a package of croissants he could heat up in the oven and then went to prepare some coffee. That would help to keep the possible headache at bay, he hoped. He did put out some painkillers too, though, just in case they would be needed. He always kept them stocked, since he had more than once dealt with hangovers and knew that some people could only function if they hadn't had at least three or four of them in their system. Of course that wasn't exactly healthy, but what could you do?

The smell of freshly made coffee and Croissants wafted through his flat and his cats came strolling to the kitchen to determine if they maybe could snag a bite from whatever it was that smelled so delicious in here. Suga chuckled and instead fed them their usual food. The coffee would stay warm for a while, as would the croissants if he left them in the remaining heat of the oven. He went about setting the table and then decided to check on Sawamura again. Maybe he was up by now.

He knocked against the door's frame and pushed it open.

“Sawamura-San? Are you up yet?” he asked quietly, not wanting to disturb his guest if he was still sleeping.

He found him laying on his back now, his hands behind his head, before he let them down and turned to look at Suga.

“Yeah, I'm up. More or less, that is.” he gestured to the cat that was located on his chest.

Loki. Suga's eyes widened in surprise and he muttered a few words before Sawamura asked him if he could take the cat off of him. In his current position he wasn't exactly able to do so himself, it seemed.

“Ah! Sure!” Suga agreed and went over to the couch to pry the white fur ball away from his guest.

The cat protested, but not vehemently so, so the blond had no problems setting him down on the floor without giving Sawamura any claw marks on his chest. The other thanked him and sat up, while Suga offered him breakfast and painkillers -he went for the first option. The blond figured that meant that his guest didn't have that much of a hangover, if at all. They ate in silence, both -Sawamura more so than Suga- still tired and worn out from the party. Suga's coffee helped though, so when they were finished, they were in more or less higher spirits than before.

“You can take a shower if you want to, by the way. I already put out a towel for you.” the blond offered when they were done and he started to putter around the kitchen, clearing the table, while Sawamura went to take him up on the offer and go get that much needed shower.

He still smelled like booze and smoke, and if Suga was honest, he'd had a hard time not to scrunch his nose to that smell. So he was actually glad the guy went and showered. While the blond waited for his guest to finish, he set up his laptop on the kitchen table, planning to look up the train's timetable to see when he could shoo Sawamura out.

Sadly, he had to see that the trains -and even busses- all were cancelled due to a severe case of black ice last night. The rails were still frozen over and the streets weren't safe either, so there was no helping it. Suga grunted, displeased. Next, he looked up how much it would cost to get a taxi to take Sawamura back home, but that was more than he was willing to pay, since he was sure his guest didn't have that much money on him at the moment. He sighed, resigned. That meant that he'd have a guest for yet another night. Of course, he _could_ boot Sawamura out, despite the horrible weather, but not even he was _that_ cruel. A walk home would most likely take the majority of the day, while slipping and gliding over frozen puddles on the sidewalks in the cold, with a storm threatening to rage above the entire city in a few hours. There was no way he would do that. Now, if it was summer, this would have been a completely different matter, but with things being as they were right now... He had no other choice, right?

He was still thinking about that while he kept browsing the internet for other possible ways to get Sawamura home, when the brunette came back from his shower, now dressed in his own clothes and no longer smelling like a dingy bar.

“Hey, everything okay? You look stressed all of a sudden.” he was asked and it startled him back to reality.

Suga stilled, blinking confused.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Seems like there was some case of black ice last night. Most of the public transport isn't working. Your train included,” he came up with an explanation, “I was looking up other ways to get you home, but other than a taxi or walking there I see no options.”

He could see Sawamura's face morph into a mask of disbelief before they came to the agreement that he would have to stay for another night. Great. The blond suppressed a sigh and then offered his guest to occupy his TV, since he still had to write that resume for Take-Chan. Sawamura gladly accepted and Suga quickly showed him to his collection of DVDs, before he retreated back to the kitchen, where he concentrated to work on his essay.

He finished after about an hour and was just checking the whole thing for any mistakes he might have made when his phone went off, informing him of a new message.

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 13:07

Subject: Tonight

Text: Hey Sugar-Chan! Sorry about last night! Got home okay? I heard from Bokuto that you took Daichi home with you?!

 

Suga gave an exasperated sigh. That bastard-! Oh well, he would get what he deserved soon enough. With a huff he went about typing his reply.

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 13:11

Subject: Tonight

Text: It’s fine, idiot. But you better not pull something like that again.

 

He decided not to react to the fact that Kuroo knew Sawamura had stayed at his place for the night. The blond wouldn't let himself be made fun of.

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 13:14

Subject: Tonight

Text: I didn't pull anything, I swear! Now, tell me -did anything happen? Don't leave out any juicy details!

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 13:16

Subject: Tonight

Text: You don't actually think I believe you, do you, Kuroo? Nothing happened. And before you ask -he slept on the couch.

 

From: Cheshire Cat, 13:19

Subject: Tonight

Text: What? But that's so boring, Sugar-Chan! You really didn't do anything at all? What a shame!

 

To: Cheshire Cat, 13:23

Subject: Tonight

Text: Not a thing. Now, don't you have a hangover to cure? I remember you drinking quite a lot yesterday.

 

Luckily he managed to steer their conversation away from Sawamura and Suga's non-existent love life. They bantered back and forth for a while longer, until the blond called it quits and decided he would join his guest in the living room. -Of course he didn't let Kuroo know that. He had thankfully managed to avoid any questions about if Sawamura was still at his place, it would be a shame if he just spilled it now.

With a look outside the window he decided it was time for some hot drinks. Breakfast had been a while ago and the coffee had long since gone cold. It had started raining a little while ago and he was sure that within the next few hours the promised storm would be blowing with full force. With a sigh he prepared two big mugs, filling them with hot water to warm them up, while he heated some mild in a pot over the stove and put heaps of cocoa powder in when it started cooking. After a minute of waiting for the beverage to stop boiling, he emptied the mugs and filled them with the hot drink instead. If Sawamura didn't like it, he would just drink it all by himself, the blond figured and carried both mugs over to the living room.

His guest was watching _Spirited away_ , to his surprise. Now he was intrigued, since he really hadn't expected to be greeted with a sight like that. He questioned Sawamura about it and to his surprise the guy said it was his favourite film. Of course Suga wanted proof for that and instantly challenged him to a round of prompting Chihiro and Zeniba's dialogue, with him acting as Zeniba and Sawamura as Chihiro. At first the brunette seemed a little startled by that, but he got a hold on himself quickly enough and managed to jump in at the right moment.

They kept it up until the end of the film, with the occasional laugh and comment in between. Suga had switched from Zeniba to Haku and Yubaba once the scene with Zeniba was over, but Sawamura kept his focus on Chihiro. Suga could see that his guest could have done it the same as him easily enough, though. He had to give him credit for that, he thought, but of course he never would admit it.

“Well, that was fun.” Sawamura remarked, once the ending credits started playing.

Suga nodded and fell back on the couch, his eyes closed and completely relaxed, he started humming along to the song that played through the credits. Of course it surprised him that he was able to feel this calm around a guy he didn't particularly like. Though he supposed he couldn't say he especially disliked him by now, either. Now that he had actually spent some time with Sawamura -without other people crowding around- he didn't seem to be too bad.

However, that didn't mean that Suga would ever consider dating him! At that thought, a slight frown made itself apparent on the blond's face. He really didn't want to date anyone. He wanted to concentrate on his studies and his friends and his music and that was about it. He didn't want to make time for anything or anyone else right now. Of course he could, but what for? He couldn't see anything he could gain from a relationship, so he'd rather not get into one.

The rest of the day went by rather slow, though. Sawamura finally met Suga's two other cats, since they had been too shy to come out before. When they did, they took to him pretty fast though, and soon enough Sawamura was pretty much covered in cats and cat hair. Not that he seemed to mind it, the blond noticed. In fact, the brunette seemed to enjoy the company very much.

They had settled on the couch, Suga on one end and Sawamura on the other, the cats somewhat in between them, when nighttime rolled around. With filled stomachs, they decided to watch yet another movie before they would have to retire for the night. Of course they were both adults and technically could stay up as long as they wanted to, but they really shouldn't, since they had courses the next day. Sure, Sawamura _could_ stay up as long as he wanted, once Suga had left for his room, but the blond figured his guest wouldn't do that.

Instead of another Ghibli movie, they chose an action filled Marvel-adaption of some comic. Mostly because Sawamura had said he hadn't seen it before. And since Suga didn't mind re-watching it, they settled for that one. After, Suga yawned loudly and Sawamura stretched, muscles tense from sitting still for so long.

“That was a good one,” the brunette commented and Suga nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. That robot shooting laser-beams did look rather ridiculous, though.”

“True. But I liked that thing he used to get to the earth.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“I take it that you wouldn't mind being beamed through several galaxies to some unknown civilization, then?” Suga joked.

He began outright laughing when he saw Sawamura's perplexed expression.

“What? Why would you think that? I never said anything like that!” he laughed, finally, “'sides, I just like the idea of being able to go somewhere so far away, but that doesn't necessarily mean that _I_ would like to go myself.”

“Fair enough,” the blond nodded, agreeing.

He yawned again and shuffled on the couch.

“You're tired. You should go to bed,” Sawamura picked up on the blond’s behaviour.

“I know. I wouldn't be able to sleep just yet, though.” Suga almost pouted. “Had too much coffee today.”

At this, Sawamura nodded gravely. He seemed to understand Suga's point well enough.

“By the way, I have classes tomorrow morning. Do I need to wake you or anything?” he wanted to know, just in case.

“Oh, uhm... Yeah. That would be nice? When do you usually get up?”

“At around eight. Kuroo comes at nine to pick me up, we usually walk together.” Suga cocked his head to the side, intently studying Sawamura for his reaction.

“That's pretty late, isn't it?” he wanted to know after a moment of mulling it over.

“Well, it's Monday. I figured it couldn't harm to take a course that started a little later, in case Kuroo dragged me out to another party on a Sunday -and believe me, that’s happened before.”

The brunette nodded in understanding.

“I guess that's legitimate, then. My course starts at eight, though. And I'd rather not show up without my notes and in the clothes I wore the whole weekend.” he made a slightly uncomfortable face at that thought.

Suga had to agree with him on that. He wouldn't want to show up in wrinkled and probably smelly, clothes either.

“That means you'd have to get up at five, if you want to get home and change first,” he pointed out to his guest.

“That's fine. I'm always up that early. That is, if I'm not out the night before.”

The blond made a face at that. Who in their right mind would willingly get up before dawn? That guy must be absolutely insane, he decided.

“If you say so and can manage that, I guess it's fine by me. Don't expect me to be able to get up at that ungodly hour, though.”

“That's fine. I'll let you sleep, Sugawara-Kun. I'm grateful enough that you've let me stay here at all. I wouldn't want to inconvenience you any more than I already have. I'll just get my things and let myself out quietly.”

“I said it was fine. You didn't inconvenience me. I offered, didn't I?”

“Uh... Sure. Still though, I really feel bad about it.”

“There's no need to. But I suppose you could always make it up to me, if you really feel that bad about it.” Suga sighed. “Now, let me get the cats out and then we can both get our much needed sleep. You even more so than me if you really plan on getting up that early.”

“I definitely will make it up to you.” Sawamura nodded.

After that, Suga made quick work of shooing the cats down from the couch and out of the room -he was sure Loki would sneak back inside, though- before he bid good night to Sawamura and went to his own room for the night.

His body was tired enough, but his mind was still wide-awake and not yet ready to go to sleep. Suga crawled into bed anyway. After a while of tossing and turning he gave up. He couldn't sleep. The night before, the alcohol had helped him to keep his mind from running around in circles, but not tonight. He groaned and switched on the light on his nightstand before he stumbled to the other end of his room to get his guitar. If he played quietly enough, he was sure he wouldn't disturb his guest.

Sawamura hadn't been yawning, but he had looked tired, too, when they parted for the night. Aside from that, the blond was sure that by now enough time had passed by, so Sawamura should be asleep by now. And if he wasn't, well, it didn't really matter if he heard anything or not, anyway. If Suga's playing _did_ disturb him, he could always come and say something to him. It's not like Suga would chop his head off or something similar.

The blond settled back on his bed, the guitar on his lap. Carefully, he started strumming a few accords and soon enough a calm, quiet melody drifted through his room. Suga kept playing for quite a while before he finally felt tired enough to really go to sleep. He put the instrument down next to his bed and carefully maneuvered around Freyja, who had come to cuddle up beside him at some point while he was playing.

 

Suga awoke to the blaring sound of his alarm clock and grumbled, obviously displeased. He was still dead tired and absolutely didn't feel like moving his muscles at all. Still not really awake, he blearily blinked at the time display. The gleaming letters greeted him with a sight he'd rather not see. 08:23am. Great. He overslept _again._

“Shit!” he cussed and was out of his bed and in the bath within seconds, stumbling over his guitar, his own feet and his discarded clothes.

Lucky him that he had mastered the art of brushing his teeth and combing his hair at the same time. There was no time for him to take a shower, though, so he had to make do with his sports-deodorant and a splash of cold water to his face. He quickly dressed, not really caring for what he grabbed and then stumbled on to the kitchen to feed the cats. Bustling around, at first he didn't take notice of his thermos flask standing on the counter, next to a handwritten note.

“Oh,” surprised, he stilled in all of his movements, blinking owlishly at that display when he finally noticed it.

Warily eyeing the note, he slowly approached the counter, not quite sure what to make of it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, sue me, but I won't reveal the note just yet. That would take away all the anticipation, wouldn't it? And I don't want things to get boring. There is still quite a lot of stuff I have planned for them :D poor bbs~  
> Aside from that, comments and critique are always welcome and I'd love to hear what you think so far! Please dont be afraid of sharing your opinions with me! I'm really happy over every comment and Kudos I get, so don't be afraid of talking to me! I really won't bite you! You're more likely to get drowned in hugs and kisses, honestly <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _WOOOOOOOOW._  
>  Guess who's back with a new chapter after a lifetime of absence?!  
> That's right, me! °^°  
> Can you believe it? I sure as hell can't.  
> I've struggled with this chapter so much QAQ  
> Half of it was written _MONTHS_ ago, back in april, I believe. And then things happened and I kind of forgot about it for a while and when I came back to it and tried to continue nothing felt right at all. I scrapped the second half of this several times to start over and beat myself up over it more than once, trust me. I'm still not happy with this, but I guess this is as good as it gets at this point. I give up. I can't see this anymore. Hopefully the next chapter with Suga will be better again êe  
>  I'm so sorry I kept everyone waiting for so long and I can't apologize enough for this, but I'm sad to say that I can't promise a more or less consistent update schedule for this one anymore. Updates will come when they come. Though I do hope I won't have to let another 6 months pass until then  
> ehe ^^"  
> Also, this is **unbeta'd** so you are likely to find mistakes in here. Please tell me if you find one so I can change it! :3  
>  Well, anyway, enough ramblings; I hope you enjoy this!

The rest of the day spent at Suga's went by in a flash and later Daichi wouldn't be able to tell exactly what they did the whole day. He knew they watched another movie in the evening and that he'd liked it, but he wouldn't be able to name the title or anything else they did that day. It was all just blurs and sounds and sounds and he knew he was mostly just basking in Sugawara-Kun's presence. He didn't even really bother with anything else, really. He completely disregarded his phone, not even checking it for any messages, knowing that he would've only received a lot of concerned texts from Asahi, apologizing over and over again for leaving the party without him and asking if he was alright. And Daichi found grim pleasure in leaving his easily scared friend in the dark.

When it was time for Suga and him to head to bed, they were faced with another problem. Both of them had courses the next morning, but they started at different times.

“That's pretty late, isn't it?” he wanted to know, after the blond had told that he usually got up at around eight in the morning.

Daichi suppressed a frown when he thought about it. For him, that time wasn't exactly sleeping in, but he needed to be at his course at that time.

“Well, it's Monday. I figured it couldn't harm to take a course that started a little later, in case Kuroo dragged me out to another party on a Sunday -and believe me, that’s happened before.”Suga explained and Daichi nodded.

Now it made sense.

“I guess that's legitimate, then. My course starts at eight, though. And I'd rather not show up without my notes and in the clothes I wore the whole weekend,” Daichi made a slightly disgusted face at that thought.

He already felt smelly, even though Suga had let him use his shower this morning.

“That means you'd have to get up at five, if you want to get home and change first,” the blond pointed out to him.

“That's fine. I'm always up that early. That is, if I'm not out the night before.”

Sugawara made a face and Daichi had a hard time not to burst out laughing. He could practically see what the blond was thinking.

“If you say so and can manage that, I guess it's fine by me. Don't expect me to be able to get up at that ungodly hour, though.”

Sure enough, Daichi's assumptions were confirmed. Sugawara really wasn't a morning person.

“That's fine. I'll let you sleep, Sugawara-Kun. I'm grateful enough that you've let me stay here at all. I wouldn't want to inconvenience you any more than I already have.” he tried to get him to agree, even though the blond actually already had.

It couldn't hurt to put down his point, though, right?

“I'll just get my things and let myself out quietly.” he added quickly as an afterthought, just for good measure.

“I said it was fine. You didn't inconvenience me. I offered, didn't I?”

“Uh... sure. Still though, I really feel bad about it.”

Suga sighed, seemingly reaching the limits of his patience.

“There's no need to. But I suppose you could always make it up to me, if you really feel that bad about it. Now, let me get the cats out and then we can both get our much needed sleep. You even more so than me if you really plan on getting up that early.”

Daichi nodded in agreement.

“I definitely will make it up to you.” he declared and then watched Sugawara make quick work of getting the cats out of the room.

Daichi wished the blond a good night and went about setting up his own makeshift bed on the couch. It didn't take long for him to drift off to sleep, though he could have sworn he heard the quiet sounds of a guitar drifting though the flat. But that couldn't be, right? Who would play an instrument this late at night? In his from sleep clouded mind Daichi didn't realize that the music was coming from his crush's room, but he fell asleep with a smile on his lips anyway. He liked the quiet songs and melodies that were played.

 

With a groan the brunette searched for his phone. The device had started ringing a few seconds ago, successfully waking him up. He wanted to stop the noise before it'd probably wake Sugawara-Kun, too. It was so damn loud. Blearily he fingered around until he got a hold on the damn thing and stopped the alarm once and for all. It was only just 5am and he was sure his host was still in a deep slumber. Sighing, Daichi threw back his blanket and got up, making quick work of his trip to the bathroom -he'd take a shower back home- and then went to clear his makeshift bed on the blond's couch. He folded the blanket and the sheets and put them in the bathroom, on top of the washing machine. The pillows were stripped off their cases and put back on the couch, the cases went to the bathroom, too. When he was done with that, it was barely 5.15am and he figured he had still some time left before he'd have to leave for his train.

He had been thinking for a way to repay Suga for his hospitality, but he hadn't been able to come up with anything good. He didn't want to make it too special, in case he'd make a fool out of himself, but he didn't want it to come off as too insignificant, either. When he walked by the kitchen, his eyes fell on the thermos flask the blond carried everywhere with him. He could make him his tea, couldn't he? With another glance at the clock on the wall above the stove, he decided that he had enough time to spare.

He found Sugawara's stock of different teas on the first try and rifled through them with a thoughtful expression. He had no idea about some of the flavours and blends, seeing as they were loose leaves and the boxes Sugawara kept them in didn't have any descriptions or even names on them. At last, he found a few more common ones he could work with. While he waited for the water to boil he spotted a small notepad and a ballpoint pen laying next to the toaster. He could write a short note for the blond, couldn't he? It wouldn't be too creepy, right? Right. Determined and without spending a second thought about it, he grabbed the pen and started writing.

 

_Hey Sugawara-Kun!_

_Thanks again for letting me stay over for the weekend! I really owe you one! I don't know what I'd done if it weren't for you. Now, I know this'll hardly be enough, but I figured since you always seem to be drinking tea at college, I'd make you some for today. Spares you the time and all; in case you oversleep again. I don't know much about about all those blends you have in your cupboard, but I found some I could work with. I'm not telling you which ones I used though and I'd advise you not to put any sugar in -it would spoil the taste. Also; I hope you'll like it. Thanks again and maybe see you at lunch?_

_Daichi_

 

For a moment he hesitated, not sure if he should sign it with his given name or surname, but ultimately, he decided for his given name. Everyone else used it anyway and he wanted the blond to use it, too. Besides, it (not so) subtly implied that he wanted to be Sugawara's friend, right?

When everything was finished a few minutes later, he placed the thermos flask and the note right in the middle of the counter where the blond couldn't possibly miss them. Then he gathered his few belongings, scratched Loki who just came strutting up to him from the living room behind the ears and then left the apartment, quietly closing the door after himself.

The way home was as uneventful as it could get. Aside from a few still half asleep commuters his coach was empty and his own place was dark when he arrived there at 6.20 am. Asahi wouldn't get up for at least another twenty minutes and Bokuto had probably stayed over at Akaashi's anyway. Daichi let himself in with a small sigh escaping his lips and instantly made a b-line for his room, not noticing the hunched lump of flesh at the kitchen table that was Asahi. He quickly picked up a fresh change of clothes and went to shower.

That must've woken Asahi up since he was awake and preparing breakfast when Daichi came out of the bathroom.

“Where have you been yesterday? I was worried!” he was greeted.

Daichi frowned, towelling his damp hair dry.

“Out.”

He was still a little cross with Asahi.

“O-out? Where?”

“That's none of your business.” Daichi cut off any more questions that his friend might have planned to ask otherwise.

Now he looked like a kicked puppy and just handed Daichi his coffee with a sad look. He should know he has no one but himself to blame for that treatment, Daichi thought and gulped the hot beverage down before he went to gather the notes for his courses and completely foregoing breakfast. Today was going to be one of those days, he could already feel it.

 

The next two weeks went by pretty fast for Daichi. He was occupied with his studies and volleyball training, mostly, but he also managed to make time for Sugawara-Kun. They were making final arrangements to their plan to teach Kuroo a lesson most of the time, but it also served for the both of them to get to know each other better. Daichi was happy Sugawara was no longer so hostile towards him, though when they met at lunch in college, they still hardly ever talked. Mainly because the blond had meant it would be better for them to maintain their image of not getting along. It was rather interesting to see how Kuroo tried to strike up conversations between them and Sugawara just flipping him off every time. Well, once or twice they indulged him, but the conversations were kept short and both managed to let them come across with a strained feeling to them. Much to Kuroo's chagrin they didn't seem t make any progress at all. It just got worse. He couldn't know that Sugawara and Daichi met regularly at Sugawara's place. That was so that nobody would accidentally see them together before their plan of revenge was exercised.

At one of those meetings they came across the subject of who to rope into their plan and who should be left in the dark about it.

“We really shouldn't let Bokuto in on this.” Daichi frowned.

He knew the guy couldn't keep his mouth shut. Of course, him finding out later and realizing that he'd been left out could result in him going into his 'rejected-mode' but Daichi was willing to risk that.

“But he would be perfect for that job and you know it, Sawamura. He can keep his mouth shut if he needs to. Akaashi just could threaten him with no sex for an undefined amount of time and he would be all ours.” the blond reasoned.

Akaashi was on their side the moment Suga had told him about their idea.

“That might be true. But it does not change the fact that he'll act pretty damn obvious about it, though. He'll be giddy and ecstatic from the moment he knows about this. Kuroo is bound to notice something is off then.” Daichi sighed.

They couldn't let Bokuto in on this. It was just too risky.

“Hmm, that might happen.” Sugawara frowned.

“We need someone to get him there, though. How about his boyfriend, Kenma-Kun?”

The blond shook his head.

“No. He'd never do that. It's unnecessary exercise, he'll say.”

Another sigh.

“Ugh. Who else is there?”

“A lot of people, actually. Kuroo knows most people on campus. Sadly, I don't have that much luck in knowing even half of them myself. And from that half I don't know who we could trust not to tell him.”

“Kyoko-San? Yachi-San? Ennoshita-Kun?” By now, Daichi was just throwing names at Sugawara, only for him to shake his head with every new name.

“Someone _has_ to do it, though. He won't go there on his own.” Daichi grumbled and rubbed his hands over his hair.

“You do it! You're his best friend! He won't suspect a thing!” he suddenly said.

That was it, wasn't it? Sugawara's eyes were wide like saucers.

“Me?” he repeated Daichi's idea, looking slightly stunned.

It had been so obvious, though.

“Yes, you. You _are_ his best friend, aren't you? He'll trust you.”

The blond took a deep breath.

“That's true. How would I go about it, though? I already told him I would be going with Akaashi.”

“Tell him there was a change of plans?” Daichi chuckled at the thought of how true these words actually were.

“I guess I'll have to, huh?”

Daichi nodded.

“Okay then. I'll do it.”

“Good. Do you have your costume ready?”

“Not yet. There's still a few parts missing.” the blond pouted.

Halloween was in a few days time from today and he still needed some things for his costume, it seemed. Daichi had completed his a few days ago, but he hadn't told Sugawara what it was. No one knew, actually. He supposed Asahi and maybe Bokuto would see it when he got ready for the party, but since Asahi wouldn't be going and Bokuto probably couldn't care less, it didn't matter. He was safe for now.

“What do you need? Maybe I could help you out?” he offered.

Sugawara looked a little surprised at that but then listed the things he still needed.

“So, that's it, basically.” he shrugged when he finished and Daichi thought about it for a moment.

“I think I can help you out with a few of those.” he decided, having made a mental account of the things he had left over from last year's Halloween.

 

Getting ready for the party was a hassle, but thankfully he had Asahi to help him out. He had even offered to help Daichi, without him having to guilt trip the shy giant into doing so.

“You know, I really don't understand why you're so hung up on this whole thing. This is worse than last year, Daichi.”

Daichi shrugged and pulled on his costume.

“Let's just say this year's gonna be a blast. I know it.”

“That's what you said last year. And the year before that.” Asahi pointed out and started to put make-up on Daichi's face.

“I was right though. It was a blast every time.” he argued.

Asahi wouldn't understand, he never went to these parties.

“If you say so. Now, stay still or I'll mess up.”

Daichi sighed, but stopped talking and closed his eyes. It was almost a shame that Asahi wouldn't come with him tonight, but oh well. It wasn't Daichi's fault that Asahi would miss out on all the fun.

 

Kuroo was gaping at him and Daichi smirked. Served him right, that damn trashcat. That's what he got for messing with him and Sugawara.

“What the-?!” Kuroo still couldn't find words to describe how he felt.

Suga laughed.

“Oh you should have seen your face, Kuroo! It was brilliant! I really hope someone took a picture!”

Daichi chuckled.

“I did.” he figured that now they could as well come out and be open about the fact that they had been spending some time with each other, even if so for different reasons than Kuroo would have liked.

“You did?” Suga jogged over to him from where he was still standing next to Kuroo.

“Yup.”

“Yes! Please, send it to me?!”

“Sure thing!” Daichi smiled and tapped on his phone to do just that, while Kuroo eyed them with disbelief clear on his face.

“Wait! You two-! You did this together?!” Kuroo exclaimed, looking shocked.

Sugawara grinned.

“Yes, we did.”

Daichi simply nodded.

“You are talking to each other?! When did that happen?!” Kuroo wanted to know, pouting and trying to figure out just what he had missed.

“A few weeks ago, actually.” Suga shrugged, probably being purposefully vague about it.

“What?!”

“Sent it.” Daichi informed Sugawara and then addressed Kuroo, “Well, what did you expect, Kuroo? You were so obvious about the whole thing, we couldn't help but want to get back at you. You deserved it for all the stuff you pulled during the last weeks.”

“I still can't believe it! You two; I swear!” Kuroo huffed and shook his head.

He wasn't angry with them, but he would probably need a few minutes to wrap his head around the fact that he'd been played by the two of them. And then he would probably say it was still somehow his doing, because without his meddling they would've never bonded and worked on that plan together. Daichi sighed. He _did_ owe Kuroo big time for this, that much he realized. He just hoped the trashcat would have the presence of mind not to talk about that while Sugawara was in earshot of them. As far as Daichi could tell, he believed that Daichi had been set up by Kuroo too. Which he had been, but not every time. The lunch-dates had all been planned by Kuroo and Daichi together, but the party and what followed after hadn't been planned by either of them. It must've been a spontaneous decision on his part to leave them at Akaashi's place.

“What? It was about time I remembered you of the fact that you're not the only mastermind in this relationship, Kuroo.” Sugawara grinned and clapped him on the shoulder as if to say 'don't mind it too much'.

Kuroo grumbled something unintelligible to that, waved them off and then turned to throw himself into the ongoing party.

“That went better than expected.” Sugawara huffed once Kuroo was far enough away and wouldn't hear anything they said.

“What? You didn't really doubt we couldn't pull this off, did you?” Daichi grinned and shoved the blond lightly to the side.

“Not that. I thought he would put up more of a fight after, I guess?” the blond offered, rubbed his shoulder where Daichi had shoved him and sent him a scolding glare.

“Oh? How so?”

“I don't know. If I didn't know any better I could swear he held back just now.”

“Can't be. I bet it's just the party on his mind and he can't be too bothered right now.” Daichi tried to explain Kuroo's behaviour.

“Hm, maybe you're right. Oh, I think I see Shimizu-Chan over there! I'll go talk to her; see ya!” And with that Suga vanished in the sea of bodies around them.

 

All in all, Daichi would say the party was a huge success, just like he had predicted, even though the night was still far from over. So far, he had met most of his friends and team mates, all of them on different levels of intoxication, high on alcohol and the happy atmosphere of the party. They were loud, bouncy and energetic and their mood was highly contagious. Daichi found himself laughing loud and often over the silliest things -a sign that maybe he should stop drinking- and dancing to the awfully cliché Halloween-themed music. He was sure that Marilyn Manson's 'This is Halloween' had been played more than a couple of times already, but he didn't exactly mind. He had fun and let loose, something some people might not have expected from him, but tonight he didn't have any responsibilities, so he couldn't care less.

When it neared midnight, he decided he would take a break for a little while, though, and claimed a spot at the bar. He was nursing a glass of water, when someone suddenly clung to him from behind. He sputtered.

“What the hell?!” he groused and tried to pry the arms from whoever it was that clung to him off of his neck.

“Nooo! Daichi, I'm tired!” Suga whined into his ear and Daichi bit his tongue.

He was too close, never mind the fact that all this time they spent together, they had never had more contact than absolutely necessary. In fact, he was sure they had never actually been touching each other at all before.

“Sugawara! Let go of me! You're heavy!” he huffed, but the blond only strengthened his hold on Daichi.

“Nooo.” he whined again, burrowing his face in Daichi's neck.

“Suga. You're drunk off your ass. What happened to 'no drinking'?” Daichi stopped trying to get rid of him, but still held on to his wrists, in case Suga's legs decided to give out on him suddenly.

“Kuroo happened. Must've slipped me something... ugh.” he said, his breath ghosting over Daichi's skin and tickling him.

He had to suppress a shudder and stop himself from leaning into Sugawara's embrace. The blond was drunk and though it was questionable he would remember this come tomorrow, Daichi wouldn't take advantage of him like this.

“I see.” he nodded, “Come on, sit down. You can't keep hanging on my shoulders.”

He pulled at Suga's wrists again and was happy that the blond let go this time. He manoeuvred him to the barstool next to his, which was thankfully deserted and ordered a water for him.

“Here, this will sober you up some.”

Sugawara eyed the glass handed to him with suspicion.

“Relax, it's just water.” Daichi explained when he saw the look in the blond's eyes.

Suga nodded then.

“Thank you, Daichi.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, there we go.  
> I hope you all liked it. Please let me know what you think in the comments! I'd really appreciate some feedback for this one QAQ  
> Also, any ideas what trick they could have actually played on Kuroo? I sure as hell don't, which is why I skipped that part ^^" I'm really no good with stuff like that, so I'm open to suggestions! :3


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo!  
> I'm back with a new chapter!  
> And it took me only four and a half months this time 'round... xD _SORRY_  
>  Time sure flies...  
> Well, anyways, enjoy!  
> (this is unbetad so any mistakes you might find are solely on me xD)

Suga huffed, though he couldn't help a small smile from forming on his lips. The note Sawamura had left him was something else. He hadn't expected a gesture like that at all; but that's not to say he didn't appreciate it. He might have been surprised that he had picked up on Suga's tea addiction, but he wasn't about to question it. The day he had spent with Sawamura had been nice, if nothing else. Despite his initial expectations, he _had_ had a good time and Sawamura's company hadn't bothered him at all.

He folded the note and put it away before he packed the stuff he would need for the day and then waited for Kuroo to pick him up.

“So? How was your weekend? And don't give me that bullshit you texted me! I _know_ Daichi stayed over for the day yesterday!” Kuroo greeted Suga with a wide grin.

“I never said he didn't stay over.” Suga pointed out, intend on avoiding to have to give a clear answer.

“That didn't answer my question, Sugar-Chan!”

“What do you want to hear, Kuroo?” Suga huffed and crossed his arms. He wasn't about to tell him what Sawamura and he had been doing all day. Sure, it wasn't anything they shouldn't have been doing but Kuroo was best kept oblivious about the fact that they were getting along rather well, if they wanted their plan of revenge to succeed.

“The truth? Come on, Suga!” Of course he was asking for the one thing Suga couldn't give him.

“Well, he did stay over. I'm not so cruel as to let him walk home in a storm.” he huffed. That much at least was true, after all.

“True, you wouldn't do that. So? What did you do all day?”

“Nothing, really.” Suga shrugged, “I've been working on my assignment for Take-Chan all day and just let him occupy the TV.”

Kuroo made a face.

“But Suga! You should have talked to him! Get to know him! You promised me to give him the benefit of the doubt!”

“Well, it's not like we didn't talk at all, Kuroo. It's just not been very much and really nothing worth mentioning. Believe me, you haven't missed anything.” Suga smiled a fake smile, which Kuroo luckily didn't see through.

“Anyway, we should get going, or we'll be late!” he pulled Kuroo with him, leaving his flat. Kuroo wouldn't drop the subject just yet, though.

“Fine. When did he leave? Did he stay tonight? He must have!” he suspected.

“You didn't see him just now, did you?”

“No, but he _could_ have left early. Or he is hiding until we're gone. I know for a fact that he hasn't been at home. Asahi was frantic.”

For a moment Suga needed to think about who Kuroo meant, before he remembered the guy from training and from the party at Akaashi's. He hummed non-committally.

“He could have.” he shrugged.

“You wouldn't have thrown him out in the middle of the night. So, he stayed?”

“Maybe.” Suga was very unwilling to give a definite answer to that.

Kuroo pouted and bumped him with his shoulder. He knew that any more prodding would be futile for now. He would have to try again at a later time.

During the next week Kuroo kept pestering Suga for more details on that weekend, but the blond stayed adamant about not telling anything he hadn't already said and eventually Kuroo had to give up. He still tried to get Suga and Sawamura to talk at lunch, though. It was predictable, however, and Suga and Sawamura made it a point that, when they actually talked to let it come across as strained and tense. Kuroo bought it, too, though he did question Suga about it. He couldn't understand why they didn't make any progress at all, apparently. And Suga made sure Kuroo never got wind of his by now regular meetings with Sawamura.

The plan was slowly starting to flesh out and got a concrete form. With Halloween only one more week away, they had agreed to try and see if they could pull their prank then. Kuroo _did_ deserve it, after all. Sawamura wasn't much of a prankster, so Suga had to do most of the planning, but it was alright. Not that he was much of a prankster either, but what else was the internet good for? Sure, their initial idea had been good, but it wasn't quite enough, they felt. So Suga had looked up Halloween pranks and pranks in general and presented the best ideas to Sawamura one afternoon, when they were sitting at Suga's kitchen table again.

“I don't know, Suga. I like the ideas, but... It's not really what we're looking for, is it?” Daichi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. They had been discussing ideas for the better part of an hour and Suga could tell that he was getting tired. Truthfully, Suga did, too.

“I know. Getting a rise out of Kuroo in the middle of a party... it might not work.” Suga agreed and closed his laptop.

“We have to get back at him somehow, though.” Sawamura pointed out.

Suga nodded. “Yeah. And the other's shouldn't really help us, either. I mean, they can know we're going to play the prank and what's it about, but we shouldn't involve them any more than absolutely necessary.”

“Well, that's just our luck, isn't it?” Sawamura huffed and Suga gave a small smile.

“Guess so. We'll figure out something eventually, though.”

“Hm,hm.”

And that ended that particular topic for the day. They spent the rest of the afternoon chilling and talking in Suga's living room. The blond stretched out on his couch, Freyja curled up on his stomach, purring away while he scratched her behind the ears. Sawamura sat on the floor, with Loki strolling around him, hunting for some scratches. Sigyn lay on one of the shelves, watching everything. Suga and Sawamura talked in calm voices, lamenting over their professors and the amount of work they were assigned before Halloween.

“I can't believe he gave us another essay to finish before the end of next week! It's not like we just finished one or something!” Suga huffed, earning a chuckle from Sawamura.

“Oh shut up, you. You enjoy writing those far too much! You don't get to complain!”

“But Sawamura! You don't understand! This one has to be even longer! Where's my free time? Does Take-Chan think his students don't have a life outside of their courses?”

“Who knows? Maybe he just likes to make you suffer?”

For that, Suga whacked his shoulder.

“Mean! You're supposed to be on my side!” he pouted.

“I am! I just tried to give a reasonable explanation!” Sawamura grinned and rubbed his arm where Suga had hit him. It hadn't hurt, really.

“Hmpf!” It was obvious Suga wasn't convinced. Sawamura wasn't too bothered, though and instead shifted his attention to Loki, who just tried to get comfortable on his lap.

“Well, at least there's the Halloween weekend soon.” Suga mumbled and moved around carefully to get more comfortable and not disturb Freyja.

“Yeah. Though I doubt there won't be any assignments.”

“True.” Suga pulled a face at the thought.

 

The next week went by fast, Suga barely noticed the days passing. He was preoccupied with working on his assignments, training the first years of the volleyball team and planning out the prank they wanted to play on Kuroo.

They had finally decided on what they were going to do and couldn't wait until Halloween came. They even filled all their friends in on the plan that needed to know in advance as to not mess it up by accident.

The time they spent together in the presence of Kuroo was getting harder for Suga. He wasn't a very good actor and the more he got to know Daichi, the harder it became for him to act like he couldn't stand the guy. Luckily, they managed to keep Kuroo oblivious to their regular meetings at Suga's and their blossoming friendship.

When the evening of the Halloween party came, Suga was giddy and eager to get going. He was looking forward to Kuroo's reaction to their prank and to the party in general. Besides, he was very proud of his costume, too. He had managed to find coloured contact lenses at the last minute and had finished his face mask only the day before the party. When he opened his door on the evening of the party and let his friends into his flat, they gasped an gaped at him.

“Wow, Suga! You're really going as Kaneki from Aogiri?”

“Is that a contact lens?!”

“The mask is amazing!”

They all talked at once and Suga laughed, nodding along to their antics.

“Yep. I'm super lucky I found them! Otherwise this wouldn't have made even half as good an impression. -Shimizu-Chan! Are you going as Cho Chang from Harry Potter?”

“Yes! Kuroo-Kun gave me the idea, actually.”

“Oh? Don't tell me he's going as Harry Potter _again_!”

Shimizu laughed. “He is!”

“I really need to get him to try something new for a change.” Suga groaned.

“There's always next year, Sugawara-Kun.” Yachi, Shimizu's girlfriend offered with a small smile and Suga huffed.

“I know. Still, doesn't he get bored wearing the same costume all the time?”

“I don't know. You could as him later.”

“Yeah, right. I might do that...” He had asked that same question numerous times during the years, and he doubted the answer would be any different this year.

 

They picked up Kuroo an hour later. Suga had told Shimizu and Yachi about Daichi's and his plan and the two were just as eager as he to play that prank. All three of them were practically vibrating with excitement and their expectations, and luckily they could just pretend they were looking forward to the party, if Kuroo would suspect anything. They didn't need to worry, though. Kuroo didn't notice anything off about them. Probably because he himself was eager for that party, too. Arriving on campus, Suga was almost a nervous wreck, had it not been for Shimizu's supporting hand on his shoulder and a whispered “Good luck!” before she and Yachi vanished into the crowd of people.

Suga sucked in a deep breath and nodded to himself, determined not to fuck things up now of all times. He and Daichi had planned everything down to the very last detail. Suga _knew_ the damn plan by heart. There was no way in hell he was going to lose his calm and mess up. He tried to discreetly look around for Daichi, but since the guy hadn't told Suga what he was dressing up as, he had really not the slightest idea what to look for.

Meanwhile, Kuroo had finally picked up on Suga's restlessness.

“So, Suga. You said you were bringing your boyfriend? Where is he, then?” he asked and pointedly looked around to prove that no, no one was coming over to them and looked like he could be Suga's boyfriend.

Suga huffed. “He'll be here soon.”

“You know I still don't believe that story, right? And how is it everyone else has met him already except for me? I'm your best friend, am I not?” Kuroo frowned.

“Of course you are. You just haven't met him yet because we always missed you when he was here to pick me up after my courses.”

Kuroo sighed. “Look, Suga. I'm really happy you found someone, but at the same time I feel like all of this is way too soon and too fast? It's not like you to just jump into things head first. You didn't even tell me his name, for god's sake!”

Suga slightly paled at that. He hadn't thought about that at all! Good thing he wore make up, so Kuroo probably wouldn't notice. He didn't.

“That's because I wanted to wait to introduce you in person.” he quickly found an excuse and Kuroo seemed to be pacified for now.

They walked around campus for a while, looking at other people's costumes and talking to people they both were friends with. Suga was getting more and more anxious by the minute. Where was Daichi? Why was he taking so long? It's not like they were easy to miss; Suga with his blond hair and Kuroo with his notorious bedhead. Of course he could always just send Daichi a text; maybe even call him. He'd had Daichi's number in his contacts for that exact reason for over a week now.

Suga was just about to reach for his phone to shoot Daichi a text, when he felt a pair of strong, muscled arms wrap around him from behind. He yelped and jumped a little despite himself.

“Finally found you!” Daichi pulled Suga close, murmuring the words against the blond's ear.

Suga didn't have to act to let his breath hitch. Daichi's low pitched, deep voice right in his ear did weird things to his heart. At that moment he was just happy Daichi held him tightly in his arms, steadying him. He remembered just in time that he was supposed to lean into the hug and casually hold on to Daichi.

Doing just that, Suga placed his hands over Daichi's forearms and caught himself marvelling at the feeling of the muscles shifting under the fabric of his costume. Strong and safe and protective were things that came to his mind but he quickly trampled those thoughts as soon as they came up. Kuroo's eyes grew wide as saucers watching the scene play out before him.

“So you're really Suga's boyfriend?” was all he managed to get out.

Suga felt Daichi straightening behind him, though he still held on to Suga.

“Yes. And you must be Kuroo Tetsuro, the best friend. Nice to meet you, I'm Chris Roberts.” Daichi introduced himself and held out a hand for Kuroo to shake, the other still wrapped around Suga's waist.

“A western name? You're not from here, then.” Kuroo observed when he took the hand to shake it.

“Yeah. I'm an exchange student. Sugawara-Kun and I met in one of our shared courses. We had to do a group project together and things just developed from there.”

Suga couldn't believe how smooth Daichi was being. Hadn't he known Daichi was lying, he probably wouldn't have noticed at all. Unconsciously he held on tighter to Daichi's arm, and in turn, Daichi's hold on Suga's waist strengthened. Suga tried not to suck in an audible breath. He was plastered against Daichi's broad chest, with not an ounce of air between them. His stomach felt fluttery all of a sudden and he tried really hard to look like this didn't affect him at all. Hopefully neither Kuroo nor Daichi would notice.

Suga wouldn't have needed to worry, though. Kuroo and Daichi were still concentrated on their conversation and didn't seem to pay any attention to him.

“Oh? Where are you from? If I may ask?” Kuroo wanted to know just then.

“From New York. The state, not the city, though.”

Kuroo hummed.

“Wow, sounds amazing. What are you studying?”

“I'm doing my master in language studies and history. I'm minoring in psychology, and that's where Suga and I met.”

The raven head nodded, thinking Daichi's explanations logical and not finding anything he could pick apart or pry into. To him, Chris' openness and willingness to share details about his person made it all the more believable. Kuroo had no reason to mistrust him and honestly, he wanted to be happy for Suga, that he finally found someone. However, now he would have to tell Daichi that Suga was taken, and he had no idea how the poor guy would react to those news.

“Well then, now that you guys have finally met, let's go and have fun!” Suga exclaimed then and disentangled himself from Daichi's arms.

He took his hand to pull him along though and grabbed the sleeve of Kuroo's robe. He could hear Daichi laugh and Kuroo huff in mock annoyance at being dragged, but Suga didn't let go of them until they arrived at one of the stands that gave out drinks. Still holding Daichi's hand, Suga ordered three and then handed one to Kuroo and Daichi each before taking his own.

He really needed that drink. His stomach still felt a little weird, even though he had tried to brush that feeling away and ignore it. He couldn't will it away though, so he was willing to move on to more drastic means. Hopefully a few drinks would to the trick to settle these weird feelings. He really didn't want to mess up now. He had to play his part if he wanted their little trick to be successful. As if sensing Suga's troubles, Daichi strengthened his hold on Suga's hand for a second or two and moved to stand even closer to him. That didn't help Suga at all, but he tried really hard to hide it. He had no idea how he managed, but he did and he was extremely grateful to whatever gods that might exist and were watching over him that evening.

They spent the next half an hour talking about their costumes, where they got them and what gave them the idea, who helped with their make up and other stuff. Daichi was surprisingly honest here; he even admitted to Asahi doing his make up. In between, Daichi and Suga were even flirting a little. They had agreed on that when they revised their plan for the last time the evening before, to make their relationship more believable.

However, it seemed like Daichi had more fun throwing bad, star-wars related pick-up lines and Suga, seeing as he was dressed up as Darth Maul from Episode one.

“Suga, I am your boyfriend!” Daichi said in his best Darth Vader impression and at first Suga needed a moment to process what Daichi just said before he burst out laughing, shaking his head.

“Oh god, Chris!” -he caught himself just in time before blurting out Daichi's name- “That's not even how it really goes, nerd!”

Daichi chuckled along, wrapping an arm around Suga and holding him close. “Your nerd, though.”

“Yes. Yes, you are.” Suga was trying to catch his breath and leaned against Daichi for support, before he pecked him on the cheek out of impulse.

They hadn't talked about kissing each other, but at that moment it felt just right too do it. If Daichi was shocked or didn't like it, he didn't show it and instead just smiled happily at Suga. Kuroo had followed the exchange curiously and was now shaking his head, a fond smile on his lips. Suga seemed to be happy with Chris, so he would support his best friend in every way he could, of course.

They kept up their little game for a while longer, waiting until most of their friends had come together in one big group. When everyone was assembled, Suga and Daichi shared a look and a nod. It was time to tell the truth. They had decided to be subtle about it, though. Suga would address Daichi with his real name a few times, until Kuroo would realize it. Daichi let go of Suga then, separating them and bringing some space between their bodies. Those of their friends that knew about their plan and noticed the look the two shared, had a hard time hiding their grins and not to giggle or outright laugh.

Kuroo was fussing over Kenma at that moment, so he didn't notice anything. When he returned his attention to their group of friends he was immediately roped into a conversation by Akaashi and now it was on Suga and Daichi not to burst out laughing. Of course Akaashi would turn the topic to the volleyball team's captain.

“Kuroo, did you see Sawamura-Kun yet? I need to ask him something and I'd better do it now before I forget it later.”

Kuroo frowned, shaking his head. “No. Now that you mention him, I haven't seen him at all. And I _know_ he's here. He told me he would be.”

“Well, maybe he's just late?” Akaashi shrugged.

“Could be. Though it wouldn't be like him.” here, Suga couldn't help but giggle quietly, which earned him a warning look from his 'boyfriend'. That helped a little.

“Does anyone know what he's going to dress up as this year?” Suga asked, having willed away the urge to laugh.

Not to his surprise, everyone shook their heads except for 'Chris', who nodded slowly. Suga pretended he didn't see that. Since no one had seen Daichi yet, topics quickly moved on to different things and by the time for the next round of drinks, Daichi's supposed absence was all but forgotten. Suga had moved on from his spot next to Daichi to stand next to Kuroo. They chatted a bit, until Daichi addressed Suga.

“Suga, would you like another drink?” In fact, Suga had just emptied his paper cup and was contemplating getting another one.

“No, thank you, Daichi. I think I will wait a little before I get another one.” he grinned.

There was no way Kuroo could have missed that. And indeed, when Suga turned to look from Daichi to his best friend, Kuroo was gaping at him, his mouth repeatedly opening and closing, trying to find words. Kuroo was speechless. Then his head slowly turned, looking over at Daichi, who smirked at him and held his phone in hand now.

“What the-?!” Well, at least Kuroo found his voice again.

Suga burst out laughing, then. Kuroo's face had been priceless. Shell shocked, completely dumbfounded. Oh, he really hoped someone had managed to get a picture!

As it turned out, Daichi had captured the moment with his phone's camera and was willingly sending it along to Suga -and probably all of their other friends, too. They all haven't had a good laugh like that for quite a while.

Suga enjoyed the rest of the evening. A lot of people even wanted to take a picture of him because they recognized his costume. He allowed for some when people he knew wanted to take them, but he wouldn't let strangers take his picture. Most of them didn't seem to mind and just moved on or maybe sneaked a picture in secret, but since Suga didn't notice that -no harm done, right?

He also spent a considerable amount of time in Kuroo's company, sipping drinks and discussing the prank he and Daichi (and almost everyone else) had played on him. Suga was in a more than good mood. He was having fun, dancing and even flirting a little, all because Kuroo kept placing drinks in his hands that he couldn't deny. And despite his best resolutions not to get wasted and to never ever accept a drink from Kuroo again, Suga ended up doing just that.

 

He woke up slowly on the next morning, spending a long few minutes in that wonderful place between sleep and wake, still following his dreams and ignoring the soft snores that were coming from somewhere behind him. Suga felt too warm and comfortable to move or even make a sound, not to mention that any loud noise would probably split his head into a million pieces.

It hadn't even registered in his mind yet that he would have to deal with a horrible hangover once he actually opened his eyes. No, he was blissfully unaware of that fact and so only burrowed deeper into the soft pillows of his bed. Only when he heard the scratching from impatient cat-claws on the door did he force himself to slowly pry open one eye. With a wince and a groan he immediately closed it again.

The light of the day -no matter how dimmed by his curtains- hurt his eyes and made him aware of the enormous headache he had. He shifted, trying to hide his face in the pillows.

And became very aware of the fact that there was something heavy holding him down around the waist. Suga immediately stiffened, despite his aching head and slow mind. Forcing his eyes open once more, he turned his head until he could see what exactly it was that was holding him down.

A tanned and well muscled arm caught his eyes, and Suga sucked in a breath. No.

He closed his eyes, slowly counted to ten, pinched himself, opened his eyes and looked again. The arm was still there, so he had to turn his head to look behind him and confirm what his sleep addled mind suspected, to see who exactly he was sharing his bed with.

He could barely stop himself from yelping and jumping out of bed, despite himself. That would have woken the other man and Suga didn't want to deal with that on top of his hangover. So he slowly sucked in another breath and tried to carefully disentangle himself from Daichi's embrace.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well then. How did you like the prank they pulled on poor Kuroo?  
> My dearest dear Emiza ([here](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Emiza/pseuds/Emiza) and [here](http://emiza.tumblr.com/)) came up with the initial idea of Suga and Daichi fake-dating and so the fake boyfriend was born :D  
> I'm really no good with that stuff so I'm really grateful for her! Also, the star wars pick up line came from her, too, and I have several more I plan to use in later chapters :D
> 
> Please let me know what you think? :3
> 
> Aside from that, anyone who wants to chat or talk AUs is welcome to drop by on [my tumblr](http://ladycarathis.tumblr.com) x3


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooooo! New chapter!  
> and it took me only a month! Can you believe it?! :D  
> Anyways, this is unbetad, as always, so any and all mistakes are on me :')

Daichi woke up early, despite being awake well into the wee hours of the morning. He guessed that's what he got for being an early riser in general, but that was okay. Especially when he woke up to a body curled up against his own and tufts of blond hair tickling his chin.

He sighed, content and happy and pulled the sleeping form of Suga closer to him. His arm wrapped around a slender waist and his chest pressed against Suga's back comfortably. It didn't even register in his sleep-addled brain that he shouldn't be doing this. He was way too happy to be close to the blond to even think about letting him go.

He would let go of Suga once the blond would wake up. Until then, he wouldn't move a muscle, he decided and dozed off again. With half an ear he could hear the cats running around in the hall -probably playing- and the faint sounds of cars passing by on the streets. Daichi sighed and nuzzled into Suga's blond locks. He could get used to waking up like this every morning, he decided, and then thought back to the previous night.

Their plan to trick Kuroo had been a huge success and he had to admit that now that he knew what it felt like to hold Suga in his arms, to hold his hand and to be allowed to be close to him, he would have a hard time to keep his hands to himself again. But gods -Suga had _willingly_ kissed him! Even if it had been only a kiss on the cheek, Daichi couldn't help but smile at the memory of it.

That, and their flirting throughout the whole time had felt more natural than anything. He hadn't felt like he or Suga had been acting at all during the whole time they were pretending Daichi was Suga's boyfriend. It also didn't help that Suga had kept flirting with him even after they had revealed to Kuroo who Daichi was. Not that he was complaining, though.

Oh no; he had liked it very much, but he had been careful not to overdo it, since Suga had been drinking quite a lot -courtesy of Kuroo- and he figured the blond might not even remember the whole night at that point. And he wasn't willing to steal a kiss that probably wouldn't even be remembered once Suga was sober again. No; if Suga ever wanted to kiss him, Daichi would make sure that the blond would remember it.

He wasn't sure how much later it was when Suga finally stirred and showed signs of waking up. For a few moments, everything was fine. And then Suga became aware of Daichi's arm around his waist and stiffened in his hold. Daichi kept completely still, not daring to move a muscle for fear Suga might sock him if he knew Daichi was actually awake. He could feel Suga moving around carefully and he could only guess that the blond was turning around to see who he was sharing his bed with.

When Suga started to slowly shuffle away from him, he knew that he should let him go, however, he felt so comfortable at the moment and he really didn't want it to end just yet. So he did the only thing he could at the moment; hold on to the blond's waist a little tighter and give an unintelligible, sleepy mumble that hopefully would let Suga know that he wasn't willing to let him go yet. Suga stiffened again and Daichi dared to move a little closer to him again, still mumbling sleepily. He felt Suga tense for a few more moments, before all the tension seemed to slowly seep out of his bones and he relaxed again in Daichi's arms when Daichi became still and stopped moving.

He was sure Suga would just wait a little while before trying to get away from him again, but that was okay. Even these few minutes were more than he could've ever hoped for. Besides, holding on to him more than once while he tried to get away would probably get Suga suspicious. So he wouldn't push his luck. And he was rewarded when, after another five minutes or so, Suga yawned and moved closer to Daichi on his own accord. Daichi was glad Suga was still lying with his back to him, or else he would've seen the impossibly huge grin on his face that he just couldn't seem to hide.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but eventually Suga began to stir again and slowly disentangled himself from Daichi. The blond was mumbling something under his breath but Daichi couldn't understand it, and he wasn't about to question the blond about it and thus expose himself. He let Suga go but decided to snuggle deeper into the covers. They smelled like Suga. And now that he was no longer holding him in his arms he needed to compensate that emptiness somehow. He wasn't sure if he heard Suga huff a laugh at him, but he couldn't care less at the moment.

An hour later had them both sitting at Suga's small kitchen table, a somewhat awkward silence between them. The atmosphere now was so different from the one of the evening before, but that's probably what happens when you wake up to cuddling with a friend and couldn't remember half of the night and how you ended up in your own bed at all. Well, that's what Suga had said, anyway. At least he believed Daichi when he'd said nothing had happened between them. They had both been wearing sweatpants and shirts when they woke up, and Daichi even still had some make up on his neck. And since neither of them had any lovebites either, Suga decided that probably really nothing had happened. Well, besides the mutual cuddling, but that wasn't the point.

“I'm sorry. I know what I am like when I'm drunk. I should've warned you.” Suga groaned and let his head hang down.

Daichi could see he was really beating himself up about it.

“It's alright, Suga. I don't mind. And if you want to, we can forget it ever happened and never mention it again.” Making that suggestion hurt like hell and he already felt empty inside just with the possibility of Suga wanting to forget this morning.

The blond nodded. “That might be for the best. Sorry, Daichi.”

Suga offered him a small apologetic smile which Daichi waved off.

“Like I said, it's okay. Don't worry about it. Stuff like that just happens sometimes.” he shrugged.

“I know. I still feel awful for forcing you to stay with me, though.”

Daichi huffed. “Well, if you really feel that awful, you could always make it up to me?” he offered, remembering Suga's words from a few weeks ago.

Good thing Suga couldn't read his mind or knew how he felt. Because Daichi really hurt inside. Everything was back to normal, back to how things were before they had started to act out their plan of revenge, and he wished he'd never been allowed to learn what it could be like, being with Suga like that. He already missed the flirting, the good natured teasing and casual touches and hugs. And the kisses. Even if they were all just on his cheeks, Daichi thought he could still feel Suga's lips lingering on his skin.

“Hmm, I might do that.” the blond grinned and winked -wait, _winked?!_ \- at him.

Maybe... Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe they weren't back to how things were before? Or had he just imagined that? He bit his lip, not sure what to make of the situation now and nodded slowly.

“Yeah. Just think about it.” he said slowly, pondering his words.

Suga didn't seem to notice Daichi's predicament though and just smiled serenely at him. And Daichi dared to hope that not everything was lost and that maybe he just really might have a chance with Suga now. After all, they had already noticed that they got along quite well and were really comfortable with each other.

During the last weeks that they had spent together, they had gotten to know each other rather well and Daichi liked to think that their friendship would only continue to grow now. Even if they didn't have a reason to team up on Kuroo anymore.

The next week was rather stressing for Daichi. Not because of his classes, but because of Suga. The blond kept subtly flirting and teasing him (well, at least Daichi thought he did) and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to that.

“Are you sure there's nothing going on between the two of you?” Kuroo asked Daichi during volleyball practice, after probably having noticed how Suga interacted with Daichi lately.

“Very. There's nothing going on between us.” However much he hoped there was, but alas...

At least Kuroo knew that Daichi _wanted_ it to be more. Suga's flirting didn't exactly help Daichi to get a hold on his crush on the blond at all. If anything, it made it even worse.

“Doesn’t really look like 'nothing' to me, though.” Kuroo observed, watching Suga's back while the blond explained something to the first-years.

Daichi shook his head. “I know it doesn’t look like it. And to be honest, I have no idea what it is, Kuroo.” he ruffled his hair with his hand and then shook his head again to get rid of those distracting thoughts.

“I do know that it's him who started this, though.” he frowned and turned away from watching Suga.

Kuroo looked at him sceptically. “From him? Daichi, are you sure about that? Because from where I'm seeing it, this is going both ways.”

Daichi sighed. But nodded. He _had_ begun to carefully react to Suga's teasing and flirting, simply because he just couldn't not do anything and always just hold his breath whenever Suga was near him. From what he could tell, the blond didn't seem to mind, so Daichi just kept tiptoeing around him and hoping he wouldn't spook Suga in case one of his responses might be a little too much for the blond. So far it didn't look like it, though, so Daichi counted that as a point in his favour.

Kuroo watched him for another moment, before he shrugged and -hopefully- decided to let it go. For now, anyway.

Practice went on without any more distractions and Daichi was happy when everyone filed out of the gym, leaving him alone to slam a volleyball against the wall again and again. He needed time to himself, to shut up his thoughts with the mind-numbing action of repeating the spike over and over again until his body was completely worn out and dead tired. That way, he'd hopefully fall to sleep right away once his head hit the pillow and he wouldn't have to think about this new 'thing' with Suga too much.

“Wow, someone's angry.”

Daichi startled, the ball rolling away when he didn't jump to spike it again. What was Suga still doing here?!

“No, not really.” he huffed and wiped some sweat off his brows.

“Sure looked like it, though.” the blond observed and Daichi shrugged.

“Did you need something?” he asked, only now noticing that Suga still wore his gym clothes.

“I thought, since you were staying longer to get some extra practice in, I could, too.”

For a moment Daichi was surprised but then nodded.

“Uh, sure. Be my guest.”

“Thank you.” Suga smiled his blinding smile at him, picked up the ball that had rolled his way and tossed it back to Daichi. He caught it out of reflex, looking contemplative.

“Why did you think I'm angry, though?” he eventually wanted to know, frowning at the ball in his hands.

“Well, you never spiked a ball that hard during any of the practices. So either you were holding back the whole time or you are angry and need to get rid of the feeling somehow.”

Daichi shook his head.

“I'm not angry.”

Should he tell Suga he used spiking as a way to shut up his mind and to just stop thinking for a while? One look at the blond told him that the blond didn't believe even a word he was hearing though, so Daichi sighed and opted to accept his fate.

“Spiking just helps me to... stop thinking for a while. It's mind-numbing to repeat an action over and over again.”

Suga looked a little surprised but nodded nonetheless. Daichi was glad he didn't ask what it was that he didn't want to think about.

“Okay. Mind if I tried to receive those, though?”

Now it was Daichi's turn to look surprised.

“Receive them? Why would you want to do that?” he couldn't stop himself from asking.

“Well, I figured that if I was to officially join the team I should get back into shape and get my skills up to par with the rest of you as soon as possible.” he grinned and Daichi swore he saw a mischievous sparkle in Suga's eyes.

For a moment he was stunned speechless, but then he found himself nodding slowly.

“Oh, okay.” he said dumbly, still not quite believing what he'd just heard.

“Yep. So you might want to get one of those forms for me to fill out later.” Suga advised and Daichi nodded again.

“Okay.”

He still couldn't quite believe it. Suga was joining the team! They would finally have a decent setter! That, and he could be around Suga even more now...

“Daichi! Stop spacing out and start spiking already! Or do you want to start growing roots there?” Suga pulled him back to the present.

Shaking his head, Daichi went to stand a little ways away from Suga before he nodded to him one more time and then started spiking.

They kept at it for quite a while, every now and then switching who spiked and who received, using only the bare minimum of words to communicate. And that, Daichi was glad for. Because training with Suga was very distracting and he found he lost his train of thought more than once whenever Suga's shirt rode up a bit, revealing a sliver of pale skin when he jumped to spike a ball.

“Okay, I think that's enough. I won't be able to even move a muscle tomorrow.” Suga ended it after about two hours, wiping sweat off his brows and moving over to where they had stored their drinks.

Daichi agreed, throwing the ball back into the basket before he joined Suga.

“Hot showers or massages should help with sore muscles.” he said after gulping down the rest of his water.

“I know. I think I'll take a bath once I'm home.” the blond nodded along. “You won't have those problems tomorrow, will you?” he grimaced.

Daichi shook his head, smiling. “No, probably not. I'm used to this.”

Suga huffed and Daichi wasn't sure he saw him pouting.

“That's so unfair, Daichi.”

“Nope. Just your terrible decision-making to want to train with the fittest guy on the team.”

Suga laughed, shaking his head.

“You could have warned me, though. Now you owe me.”

“I owe you? What for?!”

“For deceiving me like that!”

“Oh? And how do you want me to repay my debt?”

Suga grinned wolfishly and Daichi knew he had made a terrible mistake by asking that question. He gulped, trying to hide the sudden bout of insecurity welling up in him.

“Hm, I can think of a thing or two, actually.”

Suga was teasing him. The devil in angel's disguise!

“A thing or two? And will you be sharing them with me?”

“Maybe later.” Suga waved him off, “We should clean up and get changed. It's getting late and we still need to get home.”

He was right of course; tomorrow may have been a Saturday, but public transport only ran regularly until midnight and after that only every other hour.

“Yeah, right.” he agreed, but silently decided he would keep pestering Suga about those things until he spilled the beans. “You'd better tell me, though.”

“Or what?”

Daichi frowned.

“Oh, I don't know. I'm sure I could think of a thing or two.” Now he was grinning, happy to be able to turn things over in his favour.

“Mean!” Suga was pouting again.

“Serves you right, Sugar-Chan!” he stuck out his tongue at the blond.

“Daichi!” Suga gaped at him, “Don't call me that! It's bad enough Kuroo does it. Not you, too!”

Daichi shook his head. He would call Suga Sugar-Chan whenever he pleased.

“Daichiiii! Please!” Suga all but whined, looking at him with pleading, big, brown eyes.

“No can do. Sorry, Sugar-Chan.”

“Unbelievable!” Now Suga was shaking his head.

They kept bickering all the while while they changed into their regular clothes -Daichi turning his back to Suga so he wouldn't accidentally stare at him- and when they went their separate ways to get home neither of them had won and neither minded. They'd had fun, and that was what was most important.

 

From: Suga, 23:17

Subject: The form

Text: You forgot to give me the form! Can you bring it on Monday?

 

To: Suga, 23:21

Subject: The form

Text: Crap! No, sorry. I'm not on campus on Monday. That excursion Ukai-Sensei is doing is mandatory to attend.

 

From: Suga, 23:25

Subject: The form

Text: Oh shoot! Right, you did tell me about that.

 

To: Suga, 23:33

Subject: The form

Text: Well, if you want to have it by Monday to hand it in, you could always come by tomorrow and pick it up?

 

From: Suga, 23:36

Subject: The form

Text: Sounds like a plan! See you tomorrow, then! Night, Daichi!

 

To: Suga, 23:37

Subject: The form

Text: Then it's settled. Good night, Suga.

 

 

Suga came by in the afternoon, carrying bags of snacks and drinks and looking very pleased with himself.

“Well, I figured we could marathon a few movies since there's not much we need to do for our courses at the moment. I even brought over a few you said you haven't seen yet.” he explained once he noticed Daichi's questioning look.

“That is, unless you have something else planned already?” Here, Suga suddenly looked very hesitant, maybe even a little insecure, before Daichi got rid of the look by shaking his head.

“No, I'm free. You can stay for a while.”

“Great!” Suga smiled and followed Daichi to his room.

Since he was sharing the flat with Asahi and Bokuto, they didn't have a shared living room. But their kitchen was big enough to host a few guests comfortably; it just didn't have a TV or even DVD player. Suga dumped the bags on Daichi's bed, looking around the room. It was moderately sized, with enough space to move around, light brown walls rather modern, white furniture and very clean and orderly. Daichi liked to have things clean and in order. Messes always got him antsy if they weren't cleaned up soon.

“Nice room.” Suga commented.

“Thanks. So, which movies did you bring?” Daichi moved to stand close to Suga so that he could see what the blond had brought over for them to watch.

Suga picked up one of the bags again and pulled out a few DVD cases.

“Well, we have 'The Hunger Games' -all four movies, 'How to train your Dragon 1 and 2' and 'Nausicaa of the valley of the winds'.” he shuffled through the cases so Daichi could have a look at them all, leaning a little towards him,even.

Daichi acted like he didn't notice and subtly moved closer to the blond, too. He disguised the movement with feigned interest in the DVD's, looking at them over Suga's shoulder.

“Hmm. I really have no idea. Which ones would you like to see?” he prompted Suga, who huffed.

“Well, they're all good, but my favourites would be 'How to train your Dragon 1 and 2'.”

“Then we're watching those first.” Daichi decided, taking the cases from Suga and placing the first one in his PS3.

“Make yourself comfortable.” he gestured for Suga to sit down on his bed, since he didn't have a couch in his room they could use instead.

Some time later they sat shoulder to shoulder, watching Hiccup befriend a dragon and munching on the snacks Suga had brought over for them. To his own surprise, Daichi found he liked the movie so far. It wasn't too childish, even though the targeted audience clearly were children and young teens. There were some really important messages for them to learn and he found the people creating the movie had done a really good job of it -as far as he could tell, anyway.

When it came to the great showdown at the end, Daichi was amazed yet again by the movie. Everything seemed to just click; the characterisation of the characters, the animation and the scenes used. And the red death. Gods, that beast really made goosebumps raise on his skin. He wouldn't ever want to meet a dragon like that, much less even fight against it. And although Hiccup wasn't a real person, he admired his courage to face it head on and fight.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well.  
> I know I promised [Emiza](http://emiza.tumblr.com/) there'd be cuddles in this chapter, but it just wouldn't happen (yet) so they'll be in the next one, most likely 3  
> I hope you all enjoyed it either way.  
> Also, anyone willing to talk aus or otp is welcome to chat me up on [my tumblr](http://ladycarathis.tumblr.com) x3


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, have a new chapter, everyone!  
> I hope you'll enjoy it!  
> This is unbetad

At first, waking up next to Daichi had felt extremely weird and Suga tried to get away from him and out of his bed as fast as he could without actually waking the other. And then, when a still asleep Daichi had held on to him and didn't let him go for what felt like the longest time, Suga had actually come to like the feeling of being held like that by him. He would never admit to it, but he actually snuggled back into his embrace and drifted off to sleep again.

When he woke up again, he was still lying with Daichi wrapped around him and he felt deeply content like this. His hangover was still killing him, so he wasn't even aware he was mumbling under his breath when he finally got to distract himself from Daichi.

“I could get used to waking up like this...” -Good thing Daichi was still deep asleep and wouldn't hear him, right?

Later, when they had resolved the matter of how exactly they had ended up sleeping in Suga's bed and cuddling and Daichi had left to go home, Suga was having a major crisis about al of this. The things Daichi had told him about the last evening, what they were doing and how Suga had been drunk off his ass courtesy of Kuroo. That in itself wasn't that bad, Daichi seeing him drunk like that, but the fact that he had apparently come to Daichi for help and being rescued from Kuroo, was.

Heck. He could've gone to any of his friends, so why did it have to be Daichi? And why the hell had Daichi been so nice about it and actually brought him home while he was whining his ears off? Christ, Daichi was a saint! Figures he wouldn't leave Suga alone to deal with his hangover on the morning.

Also, while he couldn't remember all of what had happened that night, he remembered _some_ instances, and while he was highly embarrassed about some of them _now_ , yesterday he had felt very much at ease with Daichi at his side, flirting and joking with him. From what he could remember, he had even sought out Daichi's closeness and his touches. Half the time it had been him initiating the contact, even!

And what did that tell him? Not to mention that he had even kissed him -had even thought about Daichi holding him again and how safe he had felt all night with Daichi by his side.

“Fuck!” Suga groaned and ruffled his hair before falling face first to his couch.

If the stuff he had heard and read about crushes and love was to be trusted t all, he was developing an actual interest in Daichi, wasn't he?

“Nooo!” he whined to himself, grateful for Freyja who came to snuggle up to him for comfort. Bless his cats!

He couldn't really be falling for Daichi, could he? No. He couldn't be. He was just imagining things. It was probably just because of all the alcohol he had been drinking last night and that still was in his system. Right?

Right.

He thought that that would be the end to his internal crisis, but oh boy, was he wrong with that. In classes, he caught himself thinking about Daichi more than once, and whenever they met on campus, he ended up lightly teasing and even subtly flirting with the other. What was _wrong_ with him? Suga tried to stop himself from doing all of that, but just when he thought he could get a hold on himself, Daichi started to reciprocate the teasing and light flirting.

To say Suga was shocked would be an understatement. Never in a thousand years he would've thought this could happen. They were just friends, right? Friends didn't flirt with each other, did they? -Well, there _was_ Kuroo, who Suga remembered being a huge tease and flirt before he had met Kenma about a year ago, but somehow, he doubted that Daichi was like that. Not to mention that he didn't act like he did to Suga to anyone else. Suga seemed to be the only one to receive such treatment from Daichi, and while a part of him was freaking out about that, another one was insanely pleased with that observation. And during volleyball practice it was even worse. Suga endured the whole week, watching Daichi's every move from the corner of his eyes while he supervised the first years, his brain saving away every move of his muscles under his skin, ever sliver of skin showing from under the hem of his muscle shirt.

 

That Friday, when practice was over, Kuroo blocked the entrance to the changing room for Suga.

“Oh no, you don't, Sugar-Chan. You're staying.” he pointed at Suga, a devious grin on his lips.

“What? Why?” Suga was confused. Why would he need to stay? Everyone was leaving and he didn't want to be left alone with a brooding Daichi. The captain had been frowning at almost everyone all throughout practice -even Suga- and had said that he would be staying back to practice some more.

Kuroo's look clearly said that that he thought Suga was an idiot, but he explained anyway.

“Because you're the reason Daichi is brooding. Fix. It.” he frowned, poking Suga's chest with his last words.

“Huh?”

Kuroo huffed.

“You know, for someone as smart as you, you can be incredibly dense sometimes, Suga. It's obvious you like each other, so quit dancing around him and talk to him about it already.”

Suga gasped, trying to find words to deny Kuroo's observation, but to no avail.

“Don't even try to deny it. You like him, so go talk to him. He won't know what you want from him unless you tell him.”

Suga was about to tell Kuroo that he didn't even know what he wanted himself, but his best friend had already grasped him by the shoulders and spun him around before he could say anything.

“And no need to thank me, Sugar-Chan. I'm always this kind!” he said, pushing Suga back in the direction of the gym.

Suga sputtered, trying to fight against him, but he didn't stand a chance. Accepting his fate, he walked back into the gym, even though he had no idea how he was supposed to stop Daichi from brooding. That, and he also still tried to wrap his mind around what Kuroo had just told him.

 _'It's obvious you like each other, so quit dancing around him and talk to him about it already.'_ he had said.

Did Daichi really like him? Like _that_? There was no way, was there? In his mind, he went through the last weeks since he had gotten to know the other, trying to find instances to prove Kuroo's thesis wrong, but only coming up with moments to support it.

Suga groaned.

_How could he have missed this?_

“Fuck...” he muttered, entering the gym and finding Daichi spiking a ball against the far wall. He hadn't noticed Suga yet.

 

He ended up staying in the gym for two more hours, training with Daichi. It wasn't easy to concentrate, not with the knowledge Kuroo had given him, but he managed. And somehow he even managed to get Daichi out of his brooding mood along the way, too.

By the end of their 'little' extra training, they were bickering and teasing each other comfortably, much to Suga's surprise and delight. He would've thought knowing how Daichi felt would change his behaviour towards him, but it didn't. If anything, it made him even bolder in his teasing of the other. Though he didn't dare to make an actual move on Daichi or openly seek out his closeness. After the Halloween party they hadn't really been _that_ close again, even though Suga admitted to himself that he probably wouldn't mind at all.

 

He had no idea how to test that theory of his, though. And when he showed up at Daichi's place on the next day, more or less spontaneously having decided to bring along a few movies and snacks, he still wasn't sure how he should proceed from there. Luckily Daichi didn't seem to notice his sudden bout of insecurity -either that or he wisely chose to ignore it- and took Suga to his room since they apparently didn't have a living room. Suga knew Daichi shared the flat with Asahi and Bokuto, so he wasn't too surprised. What did surprise him, however, was how clean and orderly Daichi's room was. Even the bed was made.

When Daichi stepped closer to him to look over his shoulder and see what movies the blond had brought, Suga tensed for a second, before he inhaled deeply, picked up one of the bags he had dumped on the bed and shuffled through the cases while he leant closer to Daichi, rattling off the titles. That caused the brunette to get even closer to him, leaning over Suga's shoulder to see the cases. They still weren't touching, though, and Suga realized he _wanted_ Daichi to touch him again. Even if it were to be just casual touches. He decidedly ignored the urge to just lean back against Daichi's broad chest, moving away instead when they decided on the first movie.

Watching 'How to Train your Dragon' always put Suga in a good mood, even though the movie addressed some quite serious topics. It may have also helped that he and Daichi had ended up sitting shoulder to shoulder while they where watching. Suga was almost painfully aware of every inch they were touching, but he tried very hard to look like it didn't affect him at all. And sneaking a few glances at Daichi every now and then seemed to show him that the other was too absorbed in the movie to notice much of anything else.

That pleased Suga, knowing that Daichi liked one of his favourite movies. They had already established before that their taste in movies was more or less the same, so he wasn't too surprised though.

“That's a good movie.” Daichi hummed when the ending credits rolled over the screen and Suga nodded.

“I told you it was good, didn't I?” he asked, a genuine smile adorning his features.

“Yeah, you did.” Daichi agreed and then was silent for a second or two. “So, want to start the next one? Or take a break first?” he wanted to know then.

Suga thought about it for a moment.

“You know, there's a series about them, too. It covers the time between the two movies and it's quite enjoyable, too. You don't have to have watched it in order to understand the second movie, but it's still worth seeing.” he hummed, looking at Daichi, who still hadn't moved away from him.

“You know I trust your judgement, Suga. If you say the series is good, why not watch that first?”

Of course Suga knew that already, but hearing Daichi actually say it left him feeling all tingly and his stomach did that weird swooping thing it had done on Halloween, too. He knew he was about to blush -and this time there was no make up on him, covering it up- so he purposely looked away then, watching the screen of the TV instead.

“Okay. I don't have it on DVD, though, so we'd have to watch it on Netflix or something.”

Daichi shrugged.

“Well, good thing I have Netflix, then.” he said and got up from the bed to set everything up.

While he did so, Suga busied himself with the snacks he had brought. They had eaten quite a lot of them already, using them as a substitute for real food because they were both too lazy to get up and actually make something themselves.

“Alright, there we go.” Daichi hummed and settled back on the bed next to Suga.

They ended up watching both seasons of the series and the second movie, much to Suga's delight. Even though he had to admit he was still sniffling a little when stoic died. That scene always got to him. Though he did manage to see Daichi's reaction as well.

He was gaping at the screen, slowly shaking his head.

“Suga, tell me I didn't just see what I think I saw.” he murmured.

Suga huffed, swallowing the lump in his throat.

“I'm sorry, Daichi. But you did.” he tried very hard to keep his voice from wavering, but didn't succeed. The slight tremor in his voice let Daichi look up from the screen and to Suga.

Tears where shining in his chocolate-brown eyes that he furiously tried to blink away and Suga tried to give him a shaky smile.

“But, why?” Daichi asked, and Suga answered by shaking his head and gesturing back to the screen.

He had his theory about Stoic's death, and Daichi would understand once the movie ended. When the ending credits rolled, he turned to look at Suga again.

“Why didn't you warn me about Stoic's death? I could've tried not to get too attached!” he accused Suga, who chuckled in response.

“To be honest, there were hints in the beginning that this might happen.” he explained, “Remember that scene with Hiccup and Astrid, where she guessed why Hiccup wasn't around for the Dragon Race?”

“Yeah. So?”

Suga frowned. Sometimes Daichi could be really dense.

“So. In order for Hiccup to become chief -something that he doesn't feel he's ready to be- something that forces him to take the role of the clan's leader _had_ to happen.” Suga huffed, watching Daichi frown at nothing in particular.

“Yeah, okay. I get that. Why did he have to die, though? Couldn't that Bloodfist-guy just kidnap him or something instead?”

“He could have. But then Stoic still would've been chief and there'd be no reason for Hiccup to become chief himself. He would've probably stepped in temporarily until Stoic was back and that's it.” Suga reasoned and Daichi, seeing his point, nodded slowly.

“Well -okay. You still could've warned me, though.” he glared at Suga and shaking his head in disbelief. “Really, you're cruel, Suga. What kind of friend does that?”

“You're seriously trying to tell me Kuroo never did the same thing?” Suga shook his head, amused just by the thought of it.

“Yes.” Daichi said firmly, “Kuroo and I never really hang out alone like we do, and we never watched any movies together, either. If you don't count team-sleepovers before a match, at least.”

Suga was surprised.

“Oh. Well -sorry?”

Daichi frowned.

“I still don't forgive you. I liked Stoic!”

The blond huffed.

“Fine. Wanna hug it out, then?” he offered, more joking than actually meaning it.

That's why he wasn't prepared for Daichi suddenly blushing and helplessly grasping for words.

“Ah! Uhm. W-well. I... I think that would h-help?” he stuttered, avoiding to look at Suga at all while he said that, his blush worsening by the second.

Suga gaped. He hadn't thought Daichi would actually agree, meaning he would have to follow up on his offer. And then, when the full meaning of Daichi agreeing hit him, colour was rising to his cheeks as well.

“Oh. O-okay.” he still was a little dumbfounded, not sure about what he was supposed to do now.

Just open his arms for Daichi? Or should he let Daichi hug him? Hell, he had a feeling that this was going to be really awkward. More so because it was Daichi. With anyone else of his friends, he wouldn't have had a problem just hugging them. But Daichi was... well, Daichi.

They hadn't known each other for that long, and while he _was_ comfortable around him, suddenly having to hug him still felt weird to Suga. Even though, well, they _had_ been hugging before. So it really shouldn't be as awkward as he was feeling right now.

Suga sucked in a deep breath, calming his nerves. Really, at Halloween it had all been fine. More than fine, actually. So why was he freaking out now? He tried to reason with himself, and then watched Daichi. -Who still wasn't really looking at him.

“You sure?” he asked just then, still avoiding looking at the blond, “I mean, you don't have to, if you don't want to!”

It was obvious to Suga that Daichi was trying to back-pedal and give him the option to back out of it if he wanted to. The blond huffed, frowning at him.

“I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it.” he almost pouted, deciding that he really _did_ want to hug Daichi, even if it was going to be somewhat awkward and weird.

“O-okay.” Daichi looked at Suga then, his face still a faint shade of pink, but radiating determination.

Suga was pleased to see that expression, even though he tried not to show it.

“Well, get your ass over here, then.” he grinned, not able to stop himself from teasing Daichi just a little bit.

Now it was Daichi's turn to huff in mock annoyance, but he did move closer to Suga, settling to sit across from him on the bed, his legs hanging over the edge. Suga had been sitting cross-legged until now, but now he scooted closer to Daichi, letting one leg drop over the edge of the bed and, before he could think about it again, pulled Daichi into the offered hug.

The surprised gasp that came from him, so close to Suga's ear, had a pleasant shiver run down his spine. Even though Daichi had tensed for the shortest of seconds, before he wrapped his strong arms around Suga's back, he relaxed soon, resting his chin on Suga's shoulder and breathing in deeply.

Suga wasn't much different. He may have been surprised at himself for being so bold, but when Daichi put his arms around him, he almost melted against him, humming pleasantly under his breath and tightening his arms around Daichi's shoulders just a little. He had to stop himself from shoving his face into the crook of Daichi's neck to breathe in more of his scent, though. That would've been a little too much, right?

Neither of them kept track of the time while they were holding each other and Suga was sure he could've fallen asleep right there, had it not been for the slowly becoming uncomfortable position he was sitting in. He was so absorbed in that cosy feeling this hug left him in, that at first he didn't even notice Daichi's thumbs lightly caressing his back. It wasn't much, just the tiniest of movements, but his breath stopped for a moment anyway, before he let it go in a quiet sigh. His stomach felt weird and fluttery again, and he knew it was because Daichi was holding him like this.

For a second he wondered if he would always feel like this now whenever Daichi touched him, but then he shoved the thought away. There was no use worrying about stuff like that. He would cross that bridge when he came to it, he decided.

Not too much later Daichi moved to break the hug, and Suga let him go, even if reluctantly. Daichi was blushing again, though, so he appreciated the sight.

“Uhm, thanks? I guess?” he smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

Suga nodded, forcing his own blush to vanish.

“Sure, any time, Daichi.” Suga offered him a shy smile and moved to sit with his back to the wall again.

He ended up staying well into the night. They had ordered Take-out at around 10pm, when their stomachs decided it was time for some real food, and had watched more movies. After that hug, they had both felt a little awkward for a while, but that eventually settled and they spent the majority of the evening sitting close to each other, occasionally bumping their shoulders or knees together, discussing the movies and anything else that came to their minds.

When Suga was leaving to catch the last train shortly after midnight, he was presented with another problem: How was he supposed to say goodbye to Daichi now? Before, they had just exchanged words and waved each other off, but now doing that felt wrong to him. Daichi seemed to feel similar, judging by the way he nervously wrung his hands and shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

“Well, good night, Daichi. Sorry for staying so long.” Suga apologized. He really hadn't meant to stay quite _that_ long.

“No problem. It was fun, wasn't it?” Daichi waved him off.

“I guess, yeah.” Suga smiled, again somewhat shy.

“Okay. Uhm. I should get going. Can't miss the train.” Suga gestured in the direction of the station.

“Ah, yeah. Right.” Daichi cleared his throat, looking a mixture of disappointed and concerned, and a tiny, selfish part of Suga's brain decided it was because Daichi didn't want Suga to leave or miss his train.

“Good night, Suga.”

“Night, Daichi.” Suga took a deep breath, waved at him and finally turned to leave.

 

Back at home, when he was lying in bed and cuddling with his cats -even Loki had come to get a few caresses- Suga was trying to understand what had happened today.

In a way, he had found confirmation for Kuroo's theory, but somehow he still doubted. There had been nothing definite, nothing that clearly showed that Daichi really was head over heels for him. Not that Suga was sure he wanted him to be.

Yes, he liked Daichi, maybe even more than he should, but that didn't mean he had to get into a relationship with the guy, right? He would probably just end up hurting Daichi once he figured out that he wasn't really in love with him but just feeling a strong bond of friendship towards him.

After all, he had never been in love before, had not even crushed on anyone, ever. So how could he possibly know if he was developing feelings for Daichi or not?

He sighed and groaned, hiding his face in Freyja's soft fur. There was no way in hell that he'd ask Kuroo about this. His best friend would tease him endlessly for this, he just knew. He could probably ask Shimizu-Chan, but he wasn't sure she wouldn't tease him, either. Asking Kenma was out of the question, which left him with Ya-Chan as his only option.

Well, at least he was pretty sure she wouldn't tell anyone if he asked her not to. Ad she would never tease him, either.

“Ya-Chan it is, then...” he mumbled to himself, deciding to send her a text in the morning, asking her to come over or something.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Things finally seem to get a move on, i guess :D  
> I hope you had fun reading. You just gotta love Kuroo, don't you? :3
> 
> Oh, maybe I should add that my laptop broke down two weeks ago and I only got it back yesterday. It's still not working again quite like it should, but it's enough to write and use the internet, at least, so I can deal.  
> Also, I have to admit, while I still enjoy writing this fic greatly, I was a little miffed and sad that I didn't even get one comment on the last chapter QAQ Was it really _that_ bad? Q_Q


End file.
